Dead Lieutenant
by Taael
Summary: 1st Lieutenant Hachiman, known as the 'Dead Lieutenant' is on his 2nd tour of duty when his life takes a drastic change. (OC characters) (will eventually include the main cast of SNAFU)
1. Chapter 1: A Man's Duty

This is my first story for SNAFU and its a bit of a weird one I have to admit. The story does have original characters and a bit of an OC attitude from Hachiman, which will be explained later. It will eventually include the original cast of the SNAFU, but it will take some time to develop it. I took alot of inspiration for this story from CreativeOutput's " _Deadeye"_ and I hope you enjoy this story just as much.

* * *

The spring heat of Afghanistan beat down on the U.S. Joint Forward Operating Base. It was a staggering 106 F and the lack of cloud coverage didn't help as the infantry marched around the large FOB. It had been established during the early 2000's and had exchanged hands twice between the Taliban and NATO forces. Featuring a runway, multiple hangers, and training grounds, the FOB was a key asset for the defense of the region. Furthermore, the FOB was situated in the northeast portion of Afghanistan in the mountainous region, where the elevation was your friend and enemy, and control of this location meant control of the area. Home to numerous NATO forces, the base also held numerous Special Forces groups as well. But, this wasn't exactly home to the JGSDF, who only until recently had been strictly deployed to non-combat roles outside the country.

Looking into the middle of the FOB, there was a large open marching grounds for the FOB and a stage for speech. Standing on the stage was a young officer in a new JGSDF Desert Flecktarn camo uniform, who seemed invisible to the other NATO forces. As many U.S. soldiers simply walked past him without the normal formalities they offered to their own officers. But, it seemed like the officer didn't care as he simply just kept looking down to avoid his face from being scorched from the sun. Slowly the sound of a Japanese platoon got louder as evident by the marching commands shouted in Japanese. The Platoon marched in front of the stage in three orderly columns as the officer looked on.

"8th Platoon halt! Attention!"

The staccato of the heels of boots coming crisply together as the Sergeant Major yelled at his men to stand at attention in front of their new commanding officer. The soldiers stared forward with intense focus at their new officer, who surprisingly didn't seem to care about the current situation he was in. In addition, the officer yawned slightly and didn't seem the least bit interested in the men.

' _He doesn't seem like the type to lead._ ' One Sergeant thought as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his forehead.

' _Oi, oi this guy is in Special Forces?_ ' A greenhorn Leading Private thought as he slightly groaned.

' _You have got to be kidding me._ ' Another Leading Private thought viewing the actions of the commanding officer as unbecoming of their leader.

"At ease." The commanding officer replied with a startling firm voice for his appearance, startling the men who had slightly relaxed to quickly stiffen again by accident.

The commanding officer had the 1st Lieutenant Emblem emblazoned on his military cap and uniform. On the right shoulder tab he had the Japanese Special Forces Group Tab and on his left shoulder tab, the Japanese flag. He stood with his arms behind him, exposing his thin figure, but muscular abdomen and arms as he strained the uniform to tightly cling to his body. Moving up to his face, there was nothing that was unusual about it aside from his eyes. Every member of the platoon looked at the man's eyes, which could only be described as "dead fish eyes". The platoon relaxed, but some couldn't help be unnerved by the eyes of their new leader.

"My name is 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, I will be your platoon commander for your time as part of the Special Forces Group during this deployment. I hope you understand that you will have to endure extremely rigorous training to get acclimated to these new altitude and climate. In fact, I want everyone to grab their kits and move to the track!" Hachiman shouted as his neck muscles stiffened as a result of his yelling.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The men replied in unison as they scrambled back to their barracks to grab their kits, breaking any sort of organization they had before.

' _I am surprised they didn't fawn over me after they saw me. Maybe they don't recognize me? Or do they realize and are hiding it?_ ' Hachiman thought as he lamented his known persona and eyes.

As soon as they left, Hachiman unstiffened and leaned forward while sighing. He had grown tired of this act of his, it was self-deprecating to have to control such idiot drones. Anyone could do it if they had the voice to, and worse he had spent four years of his college to just learn how to yell at idiots, something he could have accomplished without all the training. They were worse than drones, human workers, always not following your orders correctly or affected by trivial emotions. He bet some of them only wanted to join the look cool or get a girlfriend, the worst type of guys.

He scoffed at the thought of him getting a girlfriend anytime soon, he still had a deployment ahead of him and he was getting past his prime age, at least what society said was his early 20's. He was twenty five, and achieved the rank of 1st Lieutenant, which was surprising considering how he acted around others and his loner type attitude, but his commanders had seen his actions in the field and graciously given him the rank of 2nd Lieutenant within six months of his first deployment, extremely fast in the JGSDF. It was during that deployment that he earned the moniker, 'Dead Lieutenant' derived from his characteristic dead fish eyes and his unforgiving attitude in battle.

' _I have my deployment extended and all my men go back home and I have to stay here? Great, just great. And with the new guys, most of whom haven't even seen real combat yet. Another six months in this desert and I will go crazy._ ' Hachiman thought as he walked off the stage toward the mess hall, slightly scaring other meandering soldiers with his eyes, which seemed to be tunneling in one direction.

He opened to the door to the mess hall and was greeted with silence and awkward tension. Many of the enlisted the mess hall had just arrived straight from basic and were stunned to see the 'Dead Lieutenant' in the flesh. This battalion was the only military group of the JGSDF at the current moment that was seeing active combat, so feats of bravery, combat prowess, and courage easily spread amongst the soldiers here and back in Japan.

Hachiman hated this attention, even after his drill sergeants back in the National Defense Academy told him that he couldn't be isolated and had to actually lead. There was only one drill sergeant that understood him, Asuha Hiratsuka, which who surprisingly was the older sister of his high school teacher. Apparently Asuha was told by her sister what a headache Hachiman was, but that he meant good, so Asuha took Hachiman under her own supervision for four years to straighten him out. By straightening him out, it meant mentally torturing Hachiman every day for four years.

' _Hiratsuka sensei 2.0, kicked my ass in the academy, but without her I probably wouldn't have made it past my first year at the academy._ ' Hachiman thought as he remembered his isolation and bad leadership skills had almost gotten him kicked out.

The soldiers in the room all stood up and saluted him, despite there being higher ranking superior officers who were in the room, which he worried about would bite him in the ass for this. He quickly brought his own legs together and saluted back before replying at ease, which was the signal for everyone to return to their own tasks. He sighed at the stupidity of these men, who were going to get him in big trouble with the Major.

"Lieutenant Hikigaya, please discipline these men…" the Major said while his right eyebrow twitched in annoyance with the insubordination of his men.

' _Speak of the devil…_ ' Hachiman thought as he replied with a stoic face, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Everyone get in full combat gear! You guys are going marching." Hachiman commanded as he gestured for the other junior commanding officers to command their respective platoons in the march, who were not eager to march after just eating.

As everyone left aside from the cooks, he breathed a sigh of relief that the Major wasn't going to chew him out. Looking around he realized he found something he hadn't had since his deployment, peace and quiet. He silently got lunch and sat in a table in a corner by himself, despite no one else being in the mess hall. It reminded him of the old days he missed back in Japan, something like an empty room was hard to come by, even as an officer. So times like this he savored as he quietly ate by himself. It reminded him of high school, something he should he get over as he mentally berated himself for even thinking about it.

' _Oh yeah, I wonder what had happened to 8th platoon._ ' Hachiman remembered as he threw out his waste and headed toward the barracks to grab his own kit.

* * *

"I am surprised." Hachiman noted with genuine surprise as he stood in front of the formation of his men.

"Yes, sir! We stood by the track as per your orders. I didn't let a single man leave or use their canteens." The Sergeant Major replied tonelessly but it was evident that a hint of pride was intermixed.

Looking at his men, Hachiman saw them soaked in their own sweat and could smell the stench of them even from ten feet away. They were dedicated he saw, as he told them two hours ago to stand near the track and not a single one moved. He walked around between them to check for any faults and was surprised that he couldn't find any. He did however take note of a few female soldiers, which was uncommon to find in the JGSDF let alone Special Forces.

"You may all drink from your canteens now." Hachiman announced as he was beginning to worry less about dedication and more about a heat stroke in the Afghan desert.

His men greedily emptied their canteens into their mouths and desperately tried to get every last drop they could out of it. Not wanting to kill his new platoon on their first day, he ordered them to go the mess hall when everyone else was marching the arduous 10 km march. Garnering some thankful faces, Hachiman thought that maybe he should do this more often with his new recruits he gets to region, as it would maybe weed out the dedicated from the undedicated. But, he knew the truth as he saw the Sergeant Major stare down at a few men that looked like the sort of kids that would be popular in high school or college.

Sighing, Hachiman looked at his men, all of them were a part of the 8th platoon and a part of Bravo Company. The battalion was composed of three companies, each headed by their own respective officers. Alpha Company was logistical support from the Central Army of Japan and was under the command of Major Kono. Bravo Company was Special Forces from the Eastern Army of Japan and was under the command of Captain Hazama. Finally his own personal favorite, not really, Charlie Company was the Peace Cooperation Activities Training Unit from the Eastern Army of Japan and was under the command of Major Tanami a.k.a. Major Grumpy. The Major was also the one who had ordered him to make the men go on the march from the disrespect in the mess hall.

Once again he entered the mess hall, but this time there was a stark difference, none of his men acknowledged him or saluted him, something he didn't mind. The men were talking away after grabbing lunch and the women of the platoon were doing the same, in their own groups. Hachiman had already finished lunch and therefore sat in on the end of table, far enough away to avoid social interaction, but close enough to observe. He had mastered this art of distance and conversation during his time in Service Club in high school, which was basically to sit as far away as he could from the girls, but close enough to not seem that distant.

"Yeah my Onii-chan was the best!" a bubbly voice said.

Hachiman suddenly was kicked out of thoughts as he looked toward the source of the voice. It was a relatively small girl who seemed like she was only nineteen or twenty. What caught Hachiman's attention wasn't her appearance it was her sentence and tone of voice, which deeply reminded him of his own sister, Komachi. He continued to look at the female soldier with a weird intensity that the men around picked up as they looked at his target and then back at him weirdly.

' _I wonder what Komachi is doing right now? She should probably be in bed in her dorm at college. Or is she with a man! Unacceptable!_ ' Hachiman thought annoyingly as he continued to stare at the girl.

"Uhh, Sir. I think it would be a good idea to avoid staring so much at the female soldiers…" The Sergeant Major whispered to him as he pointed toward the girls.

The girls were giving a weird look at their officer. Eyes that shouted, "Hentai" "ecchi" or "kill yourself". These looks of disgust were not that unfamiliar to Hachiman, but it hurt still. Deciding to try to repair the situation he tried to apologize.

"Sorry… I was just thinking about something." Hachiman spoke as he mentally berated himself for such a stupid reply.

' _Do you wanna die?!_ ' Hachiman thought as he mentally pulled out his hair.

"Humph." The girls replied as they turned back towards each other and resumed their lively conversation.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Hachiman turned towards Sergeant Major, who was holding back from laughing.

"Ha ha ha. It's funny, Sergeant Major…. Uhh….. Sergeant Major….K…?" Hachiman struggled to find the man's name.

"Sergeant Major Katsumi. Katsumi Orochi" Katsumi filled in for Hachiman as he reached out his hand to shake Hachiman's hand.

"Thanks." Hachiman embarrassingly replied as he shook Katsumi's hand.

"By the way are you the 'Dead Lieutenant'?"

'Now you have done it.' Hachiman thought as he felt the stares of the rest of the platoon focus on him.

"I didn't realize my name was that well known."

"Of course it would be well known! 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, 25 years old, at the age of 22 he achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant within six months of his first deployment. He got his name, 'Dead Lieutenant' after a fierce battle with Taliban where he killed thirty four Taliban single handedly, saving the convoy from doom. The only commanding officer to have any real combat experience worth mentioning. Who wouldn't know you?!" Katsumi stated proudly as the platoon nodded their heads in agreeance.

"This is why I hate these sort of stories. Always fabricating the truth to make the protagonist seem better than they really are."

"Then what is the real story, Sir?" A voice called out in the crowd.

Not bothering to look, Hachiman replied, "That's for another time."

The men groaned in annoyance as they wanted to hear the story from the legendary lieutenant himself.

"Since it seems like everyone is full now… Everyone get your kits back on and get to the firing range! Double time it!" Hachiman commanded as he clapped his hands to get everyone to move faster.

* * *

Appearing in front of his men in full gear, Hachiman stunned some of them with his new equipment, which, since they had just shipped in from Japan, was not issued to them. The Japanese Special Forces Group had a limited number of equipment and they wouldn't just go to recruits, even if they were Special Forces. Styling the latest equipment, Hachiman wore a Type 3 bullet-proof vest Desert Flecktarn, Type 88 helmet Desert Flecktarn, JGSDF Desert Flecktarn ACUs, Alta knee protectors, combat gloves, and Combat Boots Type 3; all of which were from the early 2010's. Meanwhile the average soldier in the 8th Platoon wore late 90's equipment, intermixed with some early 2000's equipment. Looking at the group, one could clearly tell that Hachiman was the sore one out and probably the best.

"Ok everyone show me what you got. Just don't waste too much ammunition." Hachiman stated plainly as he sat down on one of the bench that overlooked the firing range.

He didn't know why, but everyone seemed to smile suddenly as they unholstered the variety of special weapons they were given access to. M4 Carbines, FN SCARs, G36s, and FN Minimis appeared in the hands of his men as they took places on the firing line and ranged and fired at targets. As the harmony of guns firing soon reached Hachiman's ears, he took look around judging all his platoon's accuracy with weapons and stances. Since all the JGSDF did aside from marching, marching, and more marching was practice firing stances and accuracy, everyone seemed competent with their weapons. But, there was only one thing off, only two designated marksman could be found. Normally in a platoon of three squads, each squad would get their own designated marksman or sniper, but no other one could be found. He looked around for someone to fit the bill to be a designated marksman as they required specialized training and accuracy to do.

 _Ting, Ting, Ting._ The sound of repeatedly hit targets reached his ears as he looked towards the direction of the sound. Instead of easily hitting the close 100 meter targets, this person was hitting the 600 and 700 meter target repeatedly, changing stance and alternating between targets every once in awhile. This person was only using a M4 Carbine to hit targets that far out repeatedly. Looking toward the source of the fire, he saw exactly who he didn't want to see, the 'Onii-chan' girl from the mess hall.

' _She is a good shot… but if I approach her again it's' going to seem like I am stalking her. Remember what Hiratsuka told you! Stop overthinking your stupid social reading… God damn it!_ ' Hachiman thought as he slowly walked towards the girl.

Feeling a presence behind her, the girl rolled over to her side to see her commander looking over her. She had a slightly disgusted face as she looked at the lechery officer.

' _Don't give me that face please. You are making it worse._ ' Hachiman internally cried.

"Fire at the target 400 meters out." He commanded without any expression of his internal thoughts.

The girl quickly rolled back over unto her stomach and looked through her M4's sight and fired at the target at 400 meters out. The sound of the target getting hit by the lead reverberated through the air as she kept laying rounds into it.

"Now standing!"

She quickly stood up and resumed firing at her target, barely slowing down her rate of fire and still hitting her targets consistently.

"Crouch!"

Easily changing stances, the girl didn't lose a bit of accuracy.

"All units, hold your fire!"

Everyone placed their weapon on safety and looked toward their commanding officer, who seemed engross in looking at the girl who was crouched right in front of him. He placed his right hand underneath his chin and looked pensive for a moment before detached his HK417 and handing it to the girl.

"Ok I want you to try using this gun. Hand me your M4 Carbine." Hachiman ordered as he reached for her assault rifle.

"Yes, Sir." The girl replied in serious tone as she detached her M4 Carbine from its sling and gave it to him.

"Fire at the target at 500 meters. The sights are already adjusted."

The small frame of the girl shook as she fired the HK417, which featured the larger 7.62x51 mm NATO round. She had never fired such a weapon before and was surprised at the power of it. She slightly gasped as she saw the target she had hit before, which barely moved before, actually recoiling from the hit from the new weapon.

"Pretty nice huh."

She looked over at 1st Lieutenant who stood to the left of her with a slight smile plastered on his face as he put his left hand above his eyes to get a better view of the targets.

"Yeah… I never got to use a weapon like before." The girl replied slowly in awe of the weapon.

"Hmm, I am astonished they never let you use a DMR before. You have phenomenal aim that is a rare commodity around these parts."

The girl looked down slightly embarrassed before hearing the slight snicker of her other girl friends to her right, after which, she got even more embarrassed and looked down toward the weapon as if it was the most interesting thing around.

' _Oi, you can't be that embarrassed from that comment. Boys can misinterpret that and get hurt you know._ ' Hachiman thought as he continued talk with her.

"You are holding my personal HK417 'Sniper', so I am going to have ask for it back, but I will ask the armory to see if they can hook you up with one of the 'Recce' versions. If you wondering what the difference, it's just a shorter barrel length then my one." Hachiman stated as he detached her rifle from his sling and gave it back to her.

"Ok, thanks… Does that mean I am a…" The girl looked slightly confused, but with a slight glimmer in her eyes.

"Yes, you are now a designated marksman congratulations. Cheer for joy or whatever." Hachiman said unenthusiastically but smiled slightly.

"Isn't that a bit hasty…" Sergeant Major Katsumi said as he stood up approaching Hachiman, "The girl is only a Private First Class and does not have the certification for a designated marksman."

"True…" Hachiman pensively replied as he thought for a moment.

Without warning, Hachiman had a small epiphany as he quickly went prone on the next firing mat to the left of the girl. His men stood up and looked curiously at the evolving situation as they began to form a crowd around the left side of the firing range.

"Ok let's do a small challenge. You versus me in a marksmanship competition. If I win, you can't be a designated marksman and you have to do…. How about 10 laps around the FOB? How about it?" Hachiman as he looked to his right towards the girl.

A fire lit in her eyes as she enthusiastically replied, "Sure! But, what if I win?"

' _Damn she knows…_ ' Hachiman thought as his sweat began to run a bit at her confidence.

"If you win… you get to have my personal rifle for the deployment and get to be a designated marksman."

"Ewww what girl would want your rifle?" Another soldier jokingly retorted as the other soldiers laughed a bit.

Hachiman continued unperturbed, "Do you think that's fair?"

"Yeah I think it is." The girl replied while adjusted her M4's sights down range.

"Ok now the rules. 30 targets, randomly popping up between ranges of 100 to 500 meters. Doesn't matter where you hit it as long as you hit it within the time it is up. Whoever hits the most targets wins."

"Ok." She said while focused on cocking her rifle.

Pulling out his tablet, Hachiman set up the firing range lane for the two of them to both randomly pop up targets. Placing it back in its appropriate pouch, he then cocked his own rifle and aimed down range.

 _[3]_

 _[2]_

 _[1]_

 _[Go!] The automated voice commanded._

Hachiman and the girl fired away at the targets that popped up in random order as spent brass hit the floor following each shot. At first, everyone was amazed by the girl who managed to hit all the targets despite the sudden range variation and the lack of training in marksmanship. But, when they looked Hachiman, they could tell he was in a league of his own. Not only was he able to hit each target, the center of each the target's head was hit, while the girl had an inconsistent pattern to hit the chest of the target in random locations: sometimes high chest, or waist level, and a little bit of everywhere.

As her friends cheered her on, the girl looked nervously through scope down range as she struggled to keep up with the pace of the range.

' _This is so fast! What the hell!_ ' She thought as she quickly readjusted her aim for a 500 meter target.

Sweat dripping down her face, she looked over at her opponent, the dead fish eyes lieutenant, who seemed to not have a care in the world as he fired another round perfectly into the head of an opposing target.

' _What the hell is he though?!_ ' She thought.

 _[Hold fire! Lane 30: 30/30 targets hit. Lane 29: 28/30 targets hit.]_

"That's the 'Dead Lieutenant' for you." One Sergeant First Class remarked as he nodded his head.

"Jeez, I think he should have held back a bit for her." Another Sergeant commented jokingly as he shifted the weight of his body armor.

"You did your best, Kanata-san!" One of her female friends said in a positive tone.

Standing up, Hachiman smiled slightly as he reached over and tapped the top of Kanata's helmet with his empty magazine he had just used.

"You lose." Hachiman said coolly, but internally he was screaming, ' _What did I just do! I acted like a flirt who beats a girl to win her heart! Hey at least I know her name now._ '

"Ok, Sir. I am going to run the laps now." Kanata quietly stated as she kept her head down, which still made it obvious she was crying, and picked up her weapon and ran out of the firing range, clearly hurt.

The platoon briefly looked at their officer in disgust, trying to blame him for making a girl cry. Most gave up though, returning to their firing positions and resumed firing, albeit trying to shoot at the farther ranged targets. One of the boys though decided to make his opinion known.

"Hey shouldn't you go comfort her! You just made her cry!" The protagonist like Leading Private shouted.

"Why don't you? Since you seem so intent on helping her." Hachiman replied slightly haughtily.

The Leading Private had a conflicting look on his face as he debated whether or not to go after the girl.

' _Oh come on, you shouted at me to go, but you won't go yourself. Typical pathetic hero that is only words and no action._ ' Hachiman thought.

' _Still one shouldn't cry because they lost a contest, plus comforting a girl who is crying is a bit annoying…_ ' Hachiman thought as his mind flashbacked to a certain night on a train with Iroha, ' _Ok maybe it's not all that bad._ '

"Sergeant Major, you are in charge, make sure these idiots don't destroy the range while I am gone." Hachiman stated while running to catch up with Kanata.

In his full equipment, Hachiman hauled it as fast he could to catch up with the girl, who to his surprise was nowhere to be found.

' _Holy crap! How fast can she run!_ ' Hachiman thought.

Finally after running half way around the base, he saw her. She was sweating extremely heavily to the point where her fatigues were sticking to her body. You could almost see her underwear through the ACU's and that would attract the attention of any man in this base, but the tears that flowed and soaked the front of her body armor stopped any man in their track as they tried to approach her. He could practically hear her sobbing from twenty feet back.

' _Oi, oi you aren't going to die or anything from losing. But, there must be something deeper that would cause her to cry like this._ ' Hachiman thought as reached her.

Uncomfortably, he grabbed her hand, looking around rapidly to make sure no one was watching, and guided her back towards the Japanese Barracks. The U.S., British, and Canadian soldiers looked on curiously as they saw a commanding officer drag a crying girl through FOB back to the Japanese barracks. An U.S. M.P. (Military Police) officer almost stopped Hachiman, but with one good look with his eyes, Hachiman set the M.P. on his merry way.

' _I have to say my fish eyes come in helpful._ ' Hachiman proudly admitted to himself as he continued to drag Kanata-san to his office.

Opening the door to his office, Hachiman guided her to sit down in his personal chair. She willingly sat down as she continued to wail. He then helped her remove her helmet and then removed his own to get a good look at her. When he removed her helmet he was surprised to see shoulder leather black hair come out as it, along with that the smell of her perfume.

' _Damn why do girls need to smell so good, even when they sweat so much._ ' Hachiman thought as he felt his face get extremely warm.

Deciding to see how the situation progressed from there, he decided to wait for five minutes and walked towards the door and leaned on the door as he closed his eyes. After a waiting, what felt like an hour, Hachiman finally decided to try to stop her from continuing to cry.

"I didn't beat you that badly…" Hachiman tried as he approached from the door.

It didn't help as she continued to cry, albeit a bit quieter and with less tears as it seemed like she had expended most of her energy and tears.

"If you want, you don't have to run anymore laps around the base."

' _I am so weak to these sister like girls… Uh why did she have to say that line during lunch._ ' Hachiman mentally berated himself.

Evidently, his words did little to help as she didn't seem to respond to his words.

Giving up he decided to do the only thing he knew how to do to calm down crying sisters, rubbing their head. Hachiman walked in front of her and simply placed his right hand on top of her head and gently rubbed it. No other way of explaining it, but this simple action had a therapeutic effect on Kanata-san. She immediately stopped crying, which actually worried Hachiman.

' _Was it that effective?! Nice job, Hachiman. See your sister affection techniques you practiced for so long actually worked on someone else!_ ' Hachiman mentally praised himself.

"Gross…" Kanata whispered as she casted her glance down.

"Well at least you are better now." Hachiman stated as he embarrassingly continued to rub her head as it seemed she didn't hate it.

She wiped her tears away with her hands quickly as she tried to clean up her appearance. Realizing it was probably it was best to let go, Hachiman began to lift his hand off her head. But, with a speed unprecedented of a girl of her stature, she grab his hand and placed it back on his head.

"Please, don't move for a bit, Onii-Chan…" Kanata quietly spoke.

The hair stood up on the back of Hachiman's back.

' _Does she think I am her brother or something?_ ' Hachiman thought worriedly as he knew of men who had similar coping mechanisms after a traumatic incident.

"I mean! 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, Sir!" Kanata tried to correct herself.

"Don't worry about. Just call me Hikigaya when we are alone." Hachiman commented as he tried to lighten the mood and make her feel comfortable.

She awkwardly held his hand on her head for several minutes trying to figure out what to say herself.

' _Oh god what have I done?!_ ' Kanata thought.

"I am going to go now." Kanata mumbled as she blushed heavily and quickly made a break for the door.

As she tried to open the door she felt an unusual weight on it. Looking behind her, she saw Hachiman stopping her from opening the door with his arm.

"Sit down, please." Hachiman commanded with a serious look on his face that left little room for negotiation.

"Are you holding me against my will? My, my, my I didn't realize you were that type of man." Kanata mocked as she looked at her own body, which had her uniform sticking to it from the sweat, slightly exposing her underwear.

"This is an order. Sit down." Hachiman demanded, unfazed by her implications.

' _Women… using our carnal desires as reasons to make us feel guilty._ ' Hachiman thought disgustingly.

She awkwardly sat down on the chair in front of his desk as he took back his own chair.

"So, why did you call me Onii-chan before?" Hachiman questioned.

"Maybe because I slipped." Kanata lied.

"Liar, I can tell it was something more than that. Why else would you run from the firing range while crying? You would have never made it past Special Forces selections if you cried from physical training. If you were physically hurt you could have told me previously, but you didn't seem injured either way. Something about being a designated marksmen broke something inside of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did something happen to your brother?"

A hazed look flashed across her eyes as she looked at the perceptive Lieutenant. Realizing her mistake, she tried to cover it up by rubbing her eyes acting like she had to still wipe away some tears.

"So what happened?" Hachiman pressed on as he knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I can't have you break down in the field. As your commanding officer I need to know your mental health not only for your own sake, but to make sure I can rely on you and you won't get anyone else killed." Hachiman countered coldly.

"…."

Sighing as she remained tight lipped, Hachiman turned around and reached into the filing cabinet and pulled a file.

"What are you doing?" Kanata questioned worriedly.

"Kanata Izanami, female, 21 years old, Private First Class, originally training to become a combat medic before applying to become part of the Special Forces Group, Joined Rangers at age 19 before being recruited for the Special Forces Group at the age of 20, and quite young I have to admit. Family…. A brother…" Hachiman revealed as he read off her file while face his back towards her

"Stop! Please stop!" Kanata exploded as she tried to grab the folder from his hands.

Reacting instinctually, Hachiman shoved her, knocking her back. She fell on the ground in shock as he reacted so unexpectedly to her reaching for him.

"My bad, but you should know better than trying to grab someone from behind." Hachiman interjected with his informal apology.

"At least let me tell the story…" Kanata pled as she stood up.

"Fine I will listen." Hachiman mused as he closed her file and sat back down in his chair. Carefully placing her file to the right of him on the desk to keep a close eye on it.

"My brother was always…"

* * *

 **2 Years ago, Somewhere in Japan in the Kanto Region**

"Nice job, Imouto-Chan!" A boy in a JGSDF uniform exclaimed enthusiastically as he grabbed the hands of the girl in front of him.

"It's not that much." The girl objected as a light blush tinted her cheeks.

The boy and girl were standing outside a JSDF military test center to join the JGSDF. The girl looked fresh out of high school and the boy looked like he was at least a college student. The boy was Kanata Yuudai, a member of the JGSDF since last year, and standing next to him was his sister, Kanata Izanami, who graduated high school two months ago. She always followed her brother since they were younger, especially since he protected her from bullies in elementary, middle, and high school, as for some reason she was the target of a lot of bullies. This following of her brother applied to her future as well, which she dedicated to him.

"You should probably let go now though, Onii-Chan…" Izanami mentioned as she continued to blush and look down.

"Oh my bad!" Yuudai apologized as he pulled his hand away as if it was a hot pan.

She had just been informed at the test center that she had been accepted to join the medical program in the JGSDF, which would train her to become either a combat medic or a critical care nurse. Her brother was a Ranger candidate and sought to become a sniper or designated marksman in the Special Forces Group. He was extremely proud when he heard his sister, who never showed interest in the military, applied to join the JGSDF.

"Crap! I have to go to attend formations! It was nice seeing you again, Imouto-Chan! I will see you next free time I get!" Yuudai proclaimed as he sprinted to his car.

Time passed by quickly as soon it became summer, three months after passing her exam, Izanami had already passed basic emergency medical aid and was a certified Emergency Medical Technician. Her brother had occasionally taken leave from his training to spend time with her, but aside from that she didn't see her brother too often. But, when she did, he always mentioned how he wished he could just get his hands on an American sniper and become the Chris Kyle, but Japanese. It was a weird infatuation he had with becoming a sniper, he always researched the fastest path to become one when they were in high school together.

It was two weeks before the annual summer JSDF exhibition, a show to show the power of the JSDF to its civilians, and China. The strait between Japan and China had recently had been under a lot of conflict between the two countries as the situation escalated by the day. The show this year pulled out a lot of the stops to truly show the power of the JSDF. Divisions from all over the country were called to put on a show of epic proportions, thousands of personnel ready to show the might of the Japanese to the its people and the world.

However behind that wall of confidence and immense manpower, there were just as many issues. The Camp was not prepared to take on that many personnel suddenly, resulting in a lot of equipment being stored outside in the rain to make room for living quarters. A lot of unfamiliar pieces of equipment were suddenly thrown into the hands of the base's mechanics, who had never dealt such an array of equipment from a variety of decades. Even worse was that the army groups who had sent equipment didn't bother to send the personnel to maintain them, resulting in equipment which had been taken out of storage lacking the proper maintenance. The Japanese Self Defense Force was massively underprepared to move its military in any military conflict as evident by this show's backstage coordination.

' _It's a disaster…'_ Izanami lamented as she stood from the shade of the medical tent which overlooked the field grounds.

Millions of dollars of military equipment laid strewn around the field as logistic personnel struggled to sort it out.

"Hey, Izanami, it's not just you thinking that this event is going to be crazy." Her close friend, Nayumi Miyuki, noted.

"I wish high command actually thought this through…" her commanding officer, Captain Chigusa Rika, mumbled as she sorted through the medical supplies on hand.

"Well at least we have all the medical supplies we need, Ma'am." Izanami comforted her officer as she resumed her own categorizing of the supplies.

"Yeah, we have more than enough. We have enough medical supplies for a company sized element, but not enough medical personnel on standby."

"Ahhh," Miyuki screamed as she tore her hazelnut hair out from under her cap, "Why didn't the other bases send any medical personnel?!"

"Never mind that, just get back to working. Our jump kits are ready, right?" Rika questioned as she stood up and grabbed her phone.

"Yes, Ma'am. Fully stocked and ready at a moment's notice." Miyuki reported as she also stood up.

Silently nodding to her, Miyuki followed the Captain outside the tent.

' _I heard Onii-Chan say that today he was going to be part of the rehearsal. I think he said he was rappelling?_ ' Izanami absently thought as she looked at the clock.

Izanami remembered the phone call she had received yesterday evening as her brother proudly announced that he was going to be part of event despite being only a recruit. Once again getting closer to his dream of becoming a sniper.

 _[All personnel near the field grounds, be advised, we are about to start a rehearsal for helicopter fast rappel. Medical, rescue, and logistic personnel remain on standby.]_ The mobile radio station called out.

Ten minutes later, the sound of helicopter blades could be heard as Izanami walked outside the tent to get a better view. She watched as the old Hueys flew their fancy flight pattern over the field ground in an attempt to swoon their audience. A strong head wind from the west suddenly messed up the approach of the leading three helicopters, who pulled back to reattempt the landing. The last two helicopters continued their approach, before another strong headwind from the east this time forced one of the helicopters to abandon the attempt.

'This wind today is horrible, why would they even attempt it today? We have too many supplies laying around to even do a fully deployment.' Izanami thought as she attached her earpiece connector into the radio to listen to the radio chatter of the pilots.

"What the heck is that pilot doing?!" Captain Rika exclaimed suddenly.

Seeing nothing was apparently wrong she turned on her radio to listen to what was going on. As the only reason her Captain must know something was wrong was from the radio chatter. As she tuned to the pilot frequency her ears were assaulted with the shouting of one pilot.

 _[-oned already! Bravo 2-3, pull out and do a go around!]_

 _[Flight lead, I can do this!]_

 _[Are you stupid, Bravo 2-3. Your aircraft's tail rotor is wobbling! I can see it from here.]_

 _[Bravo 2-3, even if you can hover over the LZ. The trainees have never rappelled in such heavy winds.]_

 _[Flight lead, I am sure they can! Please trust me, 1st Lieutenant!]_

 _[…]_

The radio chatter went quiet as all eyes were on the Huey that hovered forty feet over the field grounds. The back doors of the Huey opened as the trainees in the back tossed out the rappel lines, which gracefully hit the ground. The soldiers went down the rope one by one. It had only been ten seconds since the first soldier hit the ground when Izanami noticed the helicopter began to shake really strongly.

' _What the heck? That can't be good._ ' Izanami thought as she worried about the two soldiers right beneath the Huey.

 _[Bravo 2-3, you are ordered to cut your ropes and land immediately. Your tail rotor looks screwed.]_

 _[Flight lead, this is Bravo 2-3, acknowledged. Cutting ropes n—AHHHHHHHH]_

Without warning the tail rotor tore off the rear of the helicopter sending the helicopter in a spiral. Watching in horror, the entire base watched as the helicopter helplessly spun out of control. Gasping, Izanami witnessed a ranger was thrown out of the side of Huey and smashed into the ground. The ranger trainees on the ground went prone to avoid the inevitable out of control helicopter.

"Shit! Take cover!" Captain Rika shouted as she threw both of her subordinates to the ground as the helicopter met the ground.

The sound of metal compressing roared across the campus as the helicopter crashed hard into the ground. The helicopter's blades continued to spin even as they smashed into the ground, sending the helicopter spinning on its side. The blades sent dirt and rocks flying everywhere as it peppered the surround area. The sound of the blade's gearbox getting stuck was deafening as it continuously tried to spin despite being destroyed like a bird pinned to the ground like a net, still trying to fly back into the sky. The Huey then stopped in its tracks, leaving a path of destruction in its wake: the turf completely torn up, the two ranger trainees who had rappelled unresponsive, and a dead ranger who had died on impact after being thrown out of the helicopter.

"What the hell! Cadet Kanata and Nayumi grab the jump kits. Shit! I am going to radio it in." Captain Rika commanded as she ran back into tent to use the more powerful radio.

Izanami didn't need a powerful radio to hear what was going on. The radio chatter was frantic as people jammed up the frequency with inquiries, even on the emergency response channel, there was so much traffic that communication was useless.

"Come on, Izanami! We trained for this, now it's our turn!" Miyuki remarked as she threw Izanami one of the medic jump kits.

Rushing down the field, Miyuki quickly grabbed some confused soldiers to help her. As the group approached the helicopter, they smelled something they didn't want smell, fuel.

"Aw hell! Everyone pull back!" Miyuki ordered as she forced everyone away from the crash site.

"I am going to take care of those two injured soldiers, Miyuki." Izanami interjected between the wave of inquires that were being thrown at Miyuki, who was trying her best to take command of the situation.

"Ok!" Miyuki replied giving a thumbs up before yelling at the other soldiers to grab stretchers and call the fire response team.

Izanami approached the two unresponsive soldiers as she tried to make sure they were ok. As she got closer, she kept calling for them to look at her.

"Are you ok? Look at me if you can hear me! He—AH!" Izanami yelped as she saw one of soldiers had the majority of his neck removed, most likely caused by the rappelling rope, which had whipped the soldiers on the ground. The neck had a huge rope burn on it, but since it was so violent and fast it had teared through the skin and into his trachea, killing the man. Her knees shook as she swallowed her fear and approached the next man, who to her relief seemed less injured. She quickly stabilized him and radioed for a stretcher. The radio frequency had cleared up a lot thanks to Captain Rikia and Miyuki, both had yelled at alot of people on the radio to shut up about the obvious.

 _[Cadet Kanata-san, I need you at the crashed Huey.]_

 _[Understood, ETA two minutes.]_

 _[Captain Chigusa out.]_

After helping the wounded soldier onto the stretcher and cover the dead trainee with a black tarp, Izanami jogged to the Huey, which had a rather large crowd gathering around.

"How is he not dead?" A soldier questioned.

"Can't we do something to ease his pain…" Another continued.

"It's too late for him." A 2nd Lieutenant walked away shaking his head from side to side.

'What is going on?' Izanami thought as her heart began to race.

"Hey, let her through!" Captain Rika Ordered as she gestured for the crowd to part to let Izanami through.

Izanami walked through the crowd nervously as she felt everyone watching her. Her uniform was dirtied, but she was not completely covered in blood or anything. She couldn't figure out why everyone was watching her so closely as she got through the ten person deep crowd.

"MPs, start getting these guys to disperse and get them to clean up the scene and find out how much fuel is still in this Huey!" Captain Rika shouted as she motioned for the MPs to get everyone to disperse.

"What is going on?" Izanami nervously croaked as she tried to get over the rather tense atmosphere that was formed after the MPs had gotten the soldiers to disperse.

"Izanami-chan, is that you?" A voice she recognized very well spoke.

'No…. no…. it can't be…' Izanami's thoughts raced.

"Oi, oi, oi, Izanami get a hold of yourself!" Miyuki blurted as she shook Izanami by the shoulders.

"Come closer, Izanami-chan…" Yuudai tiredly insisted as he reached his left arm to her.

As she looked toward her officer's feet, she wanted to throw up. Yuudai laid underneath the side of Huey. From his knees down, they were crushed by the Huey; his right arm was cut off from shrapnel from the shattering helicopter blade. In addition, a large fragment of the helicopter's main rotor had penetrated the left abdomen and was causing heavy bleeding. From her training, Izanami knew that her brother was going to die.

"Onii-chan!" Realizing that she needed to be strong, Izanami changed the rest of sentence, "Do you feel cold or anything? Do you need anything?"

"How rare to be offered something from Izanami-chan…Maybe a blanket, I am feeling pretty cold." Yuudai joked as he looked at his sister.

"What are you talking about? I always service you! Who else wakes you up in the morning for school or cooks breakfast!"

"Ha ha ha. I guess you are right."

Silence fell upon the group as Yuudai looked up into the sky for several seconds.

"I know you guys are her friends, but can you please give us some space…" Yuudai pleaded.

Her two fellow medics nodded as they walked away and shooed off any on lookers.

"They are nice people, Izanami-chan. Keep them close to you."

"What about you?!" Izanami quivered as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Don't worry about me. We both know what is going to happen… At least I know you are in good hands."

"Please don't say that…" Izanami plead as she cried.

"You know you were the best sister anyone could ask for…"

"Stop…" Izanami hiccupped between her tears.

"Although, damn I won't ever be a designated marksman or a 'Chris Kyle'. Ha ha ha. Dreams are a funny thing." Yuudai complained as he was beginning to cry himself.

"Please don't leave me! I can't live without you!" Izanami sobbed.

"it's fine, I am sure you will move on… because I love you. " Yuudai informed Izanami before he went limp.

' _You are so unfair, Onii-chan… that was my line._ ' Izanami thought as she tried to find some solace in his confession.

Realizing her brother was gone, she sobbed into her brother's cold hand hoping for it comfort her one more time. As if it was the will of god, she felt the hand move out of her own grip and onto her head. The hand of her brother rubbed her head one last time and through her tear filled eyes, she could see a slight smile form on his lips. Finally he truly gave his last breath as the hand fell from her head unto the ground and his eyes lost any shine they normally held.

* * *

 **Present Day, Afghanistan Northeast Mountains, U.S. Forward Operating Base**

"Do you need a tissue?" Hachiman asked awkwardly as he wasn't sure exactly how to deal with a crying girl still.

' _I don't know what to think... It sounds too dramatic to be real, but there is some truth to the incident..._ ' Hachiman thought slightly disbelievingly.

"Thanks, Hikigaya-san." Izanami replied as she dabbed her eyes from the tissues he offered.

' _I heard about that incident when I was a 3rd year at the Defense Academy. Apparently everyone in the helicopter crash died and severe reprimands were given to all those involved, or who were thought to have played a part in the crash. If my mind doesn't fail me, which it never does, I believe seven people died in that crash._ ' Hachiman thought.

Izanami looked down towards the ground in silence with an unreadable look on her face.

' _Who knew her brother was part of those killed in that mysterious crash. I don't think they ever determined the cause of the crash, but it's believed to be a combination of pilot error and failure to maintain the aging UH-1D Huey, which was probably taken from the old U.S. military inventory. In the end at least I know why she got so triggered before and I think I know how to correct it._ ' Hachiman thought.

"If it makes you feel any better. I am sure your brother would be very proud and maybe even jealous of where you are right now, Izanami." Hachiman comforted as he tried to gauge if using her first name would affect her.

"…"

"I don't mean to demean your story, but I have a sister as well, who I am extremely proud of. I am sure your brother feels the same way. Plus, remember you are not your brother. You do not need to complete his dream for him."

"Yeah, you're right…"

"Yeah I am right." Hachiman stated proudly as he puffed his chest out a bit.

Wiping the final tears away from her eyes, Izanami chucked, "You are pretty bad at comforting girls you know?"

"Urk!" Hachiman grimaced as he look down in defeat.

Izanami giggled as she stood up and put her body armor and helmet back on, "At least, you have an ok sense of humor."

Hachiman didn't respond as he returned Izanami's file back to its proper position and grabbed his helmet. He believed that he had done enough and was happy to see her at bit more normal to society's standards. Now it was up to time and her own friends to finish the job.

"Let's go, Private First Class Kanata." Hachiman informed as he took back his harsh, serious persona.

"Yes, sir!" Izanami returned proudly as she saluted.

'Now what to say to the men…' Hachiman thought as he battled to think of a way to explain why he had disappeared with Izanami for more than half an hour.

* * *

He rubbed the back of his neck as he knew the amount of stupidity he was about to deal with as he approached the firing range. By this point, the sun was setting and most of 8th platoon was just lazing around the firing range waiting for further orders. Sergeant Major Katsumi sensed someone approaching as he stood up suddenly, interrupting the platoon's poker game.

"Hey sit down. You are stepping on the cards!" A private berated Katsumi, who gave the private a sharp glare in return, before refocusing on the approaching presence.

Others noticed Katsumi's glare as they looked towards the point of attention. Everyone scrambled to their feet as they saw their commanding officer…. trailed by Private First Class Izanami?

"Everyone to your feet! Attention!" Katsumi barked as everyone did a unified, crisp salute.

"At ease." Hachiman returned as he looked around.

"Ok everyone, gather your stuff we are goi-" Hachiman ordered before being interrupted.

"Oh, Lieutenant, I never knew you had that sort of relationship with Kanata-Kun?" A Sergeant First Class interrupted in a teasing voice.

Behind Hachiman stood Izanami, who had extremely red cheeks, disheveled clothing, and messed up hair underneath her helmet. The other members of 8th platoon looked at her and back at their Lieutenant in amazement as they tried to find a connection between the two.

"It's not like that!" Hachiman tried to explain, but it was too late.

A lot of oh's and ah's rang out as they heard Hachiman vehemently trying to deny it, while Izanami got even more embarrassed. She hid behind him and clutched his shirt with her one hand tightly.

' _Hey woman, why don't you explain?!_ ' Hachiman mentally glared at the girl behind him.

' _I can't do it!_ ' Izanami returned with a tearful glance.

"Ok that's enough!" Hachiman bellowed as he adjusted his vision and glared at everyone.

' _Oh we've done it now…_ ' Katsumi thought as he prepared himself to march 20 km.

"Go get dinner and the rest of the night is yours." Hachiman surprised them with his orders.

"Sir, yes, sir!" All the men and women of 8th Platoon exclaimed as they hurried to the mess hall.

After watching the last person leave to the mess hall, Hachiman turned his head to face Izanami.

"How long are you going to remain like that?" Hachiman asked.

"Maybe forever." Izanami joked.

"Forever?! Are you kidding me! I have so much work to do I can't stand here waiting forever for…." Hachiman complained loudly.

Not listening to rest of Hachiman's ramble, she smiled as she continued to look down, still gripping Hachiman's shirt.

* * *

I apologize for a bit of the over dramatic cliche things. I hope you enjoyed the story.

-Taael


	2. Chapter 2: First Contact

That took a lot long to write then I planned. Well since it took so long to write I am just going to let you guys enjoy it. See you at the end.

* * *

 **2 Months Later**

It was a beautiful summer morning in Afghanistan, the heat was a sweltering 118 F, not a cloud in the sky, and the JGSDF Special Forces Group decided to go on their first patrol of the deployment. Thanks to stringent climate acclimation training, bureaucratic issues in Japan, and the recent increase in Taliban activity, the JGSDF had been held back from doing any patrols outside the base for the past two months. Even though they were special forces and had finished acclimation training, U.S. Base Command had purposely kept substituting JGSDF patrols out with US, Canadian, and British patrols. But today was different, the majority of the FOB was moving for a major assault on a Taliban held city 150 km to the north and this meant most of the NATO forces were away. Realizing the situation, the U.S. Base Command finally relented and allocated a few back line patrol routes to the JGSDF.

8th Platoon of Bravo Company stood in a line formation to the right of their vehicles, six Komatsu LAVs with a M2 Sumitomo 50. Cal machine gun on top of each one. The vehicle's camo were still the woodland variant of the JGSDF Flecktarn camo, which stood out in the bland light brown background of sand and rocks. It seemed like the engineers had not gotten around to painting them the proper camo, so until then they would be easy targets. At the least, they were fairly heavily armored and didn't blow up spectacularly like a humvee when hit with an RPG or IED.

"We were suppose to leave at 0800. It's now 0945. Where is he? " A Leading Private asked no one in particular as he pulled at his collar, which was covered in sweat.

"He is probably either sleeping or talking to his 'sister'." A Sergeant responded with a joking tone, putting quotation marks around sister.

"I highly doubt that he would be just talking to her." A certain protagonist like Private First Class joked.

"Shhh! Don't let him hear you say that! He is going to make us run laps around the FOB again!" A Private retorted quickly in hopes of stymieing the conversation's direction.

"Yeah, we all know how much he loves his sleep… especially with her..." Sergeant Major Katsumi jested to the dismay of the Private as the other soldiers laughed.

The dull roar of jet engines and helicopters could be heard in the distance as the FOB moved its forces up north. Even though the air strip was on the opposite side of the base, the sound was still loud enough to conceal the footsteps of soldiers and prevent whispering. Realizing that Hachiman could be close by, they did a quick visual scan to make sure their commanding officer wasn't there.

"Hey isn't that the voice of 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya talking?" One of the Privates raised his concern.

Getting as close as they could to the sound, they listened closely as they heard Hachiman talk with someone else.

"Yeah, I have to take my platoon on patrol. It's a pretty big thing for them." A voice they recognized as Hachiman spoke.

"I am not too surprised, it's pretty big step for them. Those guys are the newbies right? Straight from Special Forces?" A voice they didn't recognize spoke back.

"Yeah, but they were trained quite well. I just needed to train them to get use to the altitude and climate. So what is sixth platoon doing today? Lazing around because HQ loves you so much?" Hachiman sarcastically asked.

"Absolutely! I can finally catch up on the latest release of manga for the newest series! Do you know how long I have been waiting for them to release this new chapter?"

"I wonder why such a big otaku like yourself is even in Special Forces..."

"Hey you know what I say! I only work to support my hobby. Plus, isn't that the same for you?"

"I am only a cog in this massive machine of society because I have to, not because I want to. You on the other hand, could have been a household husband."

"Ha ha ha. Well I am going to go now. Be careful out there young 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya!"

"Right back at you, old man 2nd Lieutenant Itami."

Quickly getting back in their positions, 8th platoon stood by their convoy of LAVs as if nothing had happened. As Hachiman walked out from behind the sound barrier that had separated him from his platoon, he glared daggers at everyone present. Looking for a victim he scanned through his platoon till he reached a private, who was reticent and was significantly shorter than Hachiman.

"Private Sutsu? Do you want to tell me what you guys were talking about behind my back?" Hachiman interrogated the man.

The face on everyone slightly soured as they stiffened up at the realization that their ruthless commanding officer heard what they had said about him.

"Uh well…" Private Sutsu began as he felt the glare of the rest of the platoon also beating down on him.

"Do tell… Also some names would be nice as well." Hachiman said nicely but the shadow covering his eyes and the glare of the metal slide of the pistol he was about to draw said otherwise.

Just when all hope was lost for the platoon, someone poked Hachiman's back.

"Who is i- humph?" Hachiman annoyingly asked before being poked in the cheek when he tried to turn around.

"Hey, Hachiman, you shouldn't bully the younger soldiers." Izanami chided as she put her hands behind her back, trying to look cute despite the obvious military attire and weaponry.

Sighing Hachiman gave to her whim, "Sure, sure."

' _What a monster…_ ' Everyone thought.

Izanami giggled as she was able to bend Hachiman to her will despite the obvious age and rank difference, something that frightened the others.

Over the two months, the two had gotten close to each other to the point where they always used first name and would occasionally sneak into the other barracks to wake the other up, which actually only Izanami was doing that to Hachiman. No one really knew what to think of their relationship because she would call him Onii-chan at points, but act like they were going out. Some had the theory it was his fetish or something, but no one could confirm it, so it still was a theory. A weird chemistry that no one really understood, but one thing was clear, don't mess with Izanami when she had her alone time with Hachiman.

Coughing slightly to get everyone's attention, Hachiman stood in front of his men and put his arms behind his back before commanding, "Sergeant Major Katsumi, call attention."

"Sir, yes, sir! Everyone, attention!" Sergeant Major Katsumi barked as he clicked the heels of his boots together and straightened his back

Simultaneously, everyone stood at attention Hachiman, something that made Hachiman feel somewhat proud of his platoon.

"Ok everyone, this will be our first patrol in the region. You all have trained hard and are now ready to deal with combat, so everyone be careful. Remember use your heads not your guts. Just remember your training and the briefing!" Hachiman yelled to his men as they sobered up.

"Load up!" Hachiman ordered as he spun his left hand's pointer finger in a circle to the left of head, which meant to gather up/load up.

The men quickly falled out into their respective squads and loaded up in the LAVs. Hachiman's LAV was the second vehicle, followed by two LAVs driven by two master Sergeants, followed by two LAVs driven by two Sergeant First Classes. All the LAVs held at least one gunner on the 50 Cal., who held the most dangerous part of the job, which was to scan for enemies and return fire, all while exposing their entire chest and head as the LAVs lacked the normal Objective Gunner Protection Kits (OGPK) that U.S. humvees had.

Before he entered the LAV, he felt something tug the sleeve of his uniform. Turning to face the source he saw Izanami with a slight hue of red tinting her cheeks.

"Hachiman…be careful. Ok?" Izanami quietly spoke as she gripped his sleeve tightly.

Hachiman tapped her on the helmet with his free hand and replied, "Who do you think I am? I am the 'Dead Lieutenant' the man who single handedly…AYYYY."

Izanami interrupted him by getting extremely close to his face to the point where he could feel her moist breath against her skin, before giving a teasing smile and jumping away into the LAV, leaving a stunned Hachiman standing there. Wolf whistles could be heard from the gunners as they whistled and hollered at Hachiman. Realizing his mistake, Hachiman snapped himself out of his stupor and loaded up in the LAV, making a mental note to talk to Izanami on public displays of affection, which he considered bad for his reputation and her own.

[ _All Units, this is 1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, 8th platoon has assumed the call sign 'Swordfish'. All squads have been given their standard callsigns as well. We are about to do a standard patrol near the FOB, so we most likely won't see any action, but don't go to sleep._ ] Hachiman called through the radio.

[ _U.S. Base Command, Swordfish, message._ ] Hachiman called on the U.S. Base Command frequency.

[ _This is Command, send it._ ] A voice replied, who could be assumed to be an U.S. officer responded.

[ _Swordfish, JGSDF, Bravo Company, 8th Platoon, moving to patrol around the FOB's outer region._ ]

[ _Acknowledged, by the way air support is limited in the region due to the operation up north, so don't be calling up medevacs and close air support for no reason._ ]

[ _Roger that._ ]

8th Platoon had rolled out of the FOB three hours ago and to no one's surprise nothing happened. The sun still beat down and not a single cloud could be seen for miles in this relentless mountainous region. The occasional herder and or animal in the mountainous region appeared, but aside from those minor things nothing interesting happened. But, everyone was still very focused and not a single person fell asleep. But, they were not only focused on their surroundings, all eyes were also on the legendary 'Dead Lieutenant'.

Many had observed his rather casual attitude in the base, he never really seemed on edge or had the characteristic thousand yard stare as a cold blooded killer should have who ended the lives of thirty five Taliban or at least they thought one should have. Although he could be mean, sadistic, or just be a plain pain to deal with, everyone still respected him due to his moniker and highly held achievements. But, no one had actually seen his attitude in the field.

The men in the second LAV had never seen Hachiman so attentive and focused on the task at his hand as they watched Hachiman multi-task between messaging Bravo Company's Captain Hazama, checking mission objectives, reading weather reports, and checking maps and headings. At the same time he still kept track of his men.

"Sergeant, you have better things to do than to stare at me. Look at your two o'clock as it seems our gunner keeps forgetting to check from our three o'clock to our six o'clock." Hachiman stated as he purposely raised his voice near the end to get the attention of the gunner.

Without a word, the Sergeant and Private First Class corrected their mistakes and resumed their over watch. Izanami was diligently watching her surroundings on her side of the LAV. The Driver had a solid bead on the driver ahead, making sure to mirror the same speed and turns as the lead.

"Swordfish to Charlie actual, make sure your driver in Charile 1-2 isn't asleep, he is lagging behind the rest of the convoy." Hachiman called to the Charlie's squad lead.

"Roger that, Swordfish!" The Sergeant First Class responded quickly and firmly.

"Freakin amateurs, I bet that driver is having a hard time shifting the gears in that LAV…" Hachiman mumbled to himself as he refocused on his tablet.

' _Why is he so caustic?_ ' The sergeant thought as he looked back his commanding officer.

Hachiman liked to call this mode his 'super important work in progress therefore don't talk to me unless it was important', which he practiced all the time in his old high school service club. It was a mode that made sure everyone know he was there, but avoid talking to him as they would think he is intensely focused on something.

' _But, seriously, how come Captain Hazama is making us go farther out than what we told U.S. Base Command? He knows we have limited air support and we are only a small platoon, not a company sized element that should be patrolling the area he just assigned us._ ' Hachiman thought as he looked at his tablet.

The area that was just assigned to 8th Platoon took them twenty kilometers outside the FOB, way farther out than the briefed ten kilometers. This was not just a simple twenty kilometers outside the FOB, it meant that their radius of patrol was just extended out by ten more kilometers, a huge area to cover.

"Alpha actual to Swordfish, am I reading our mission update correctly? Are we doing a twenty kilometer radius patrol instead of ten kilometer?" Katsumi asked.

"This is Swordfish. It appears that way. Take the course that was forwarded to your tablet." Hachiman replied through the radio.

"Acknowledged."

' _I don't like this at all…_ ' Hachiman thought ominously as he remembered a similar situation.

* * *

' _Finally a small break._ ' Hachiman thought with a sigh of relief as he put down his tablet for a moment.

Taking a look at Hachiman's weapon loadout, it consisted of his HK417 'sniper' version, MP7, and USP. His HK417 had a 3-9 power sight, 45 degree angle red dot sight to the right of his main optic, PEQ-15 mounted on the left side of barrel, and a bipod. The MP7 had a red dot and an extended magazine and was mounted on his right thigh on a leg platform with a quick detach holster. His trusty side arm USP was located on the front of his plate carrier in a pistol holster.

He looked down at his HK417, which had his own personal touches and scars on it. He carefully inspected each scratch, each line, curvature, and scorch mark on his rifle to ensure that it wasn't used by anyone but him. It was his most precious rifle, which served with him through his last two deployments and never failed him. This rifle was his lifeline and treated it as such, making sure to clean and maintain it whenever possible, but he couldn't do that in the field.

' _Maybe I can read a bit?_ ' Hachiman thought as he reached into one of his side pouches and pulled out a light novel to read from.

He never had a chance to read this new novel, but had heard very good things about it from colleagues that had recommended it to him. A good story line with a witty protagonist that wouldn't yield to anyone until one day he met a certain girl. A small bit of irony reached him as he held a wry smile as he read through the first chapter.

...

"Hiki…" A mysterious voice said.

'What...who?' Hachiman thought as a slight feeling of nostalgia hit him.

"Hikigaya…" An extremely familiar voice spoke in an annoyed tone.

Slowly opening his eyes, Hachiman blinked out of his stupor as he sat up in his chair. He looked around him and was taken aback. An unused classroom, desks and chairs stacked up in the back of the room tucked away for later use. The aroma of Japanese tea filled his nostrils as he took a long whiff. In front of him was a long table that had three chairs around, he was sitting in one of them at one of the heads of the table. His old high school uniform was on him and the girls in front of him also wore the same uniform as him.

"Oi, oi, oi! Hiki! Are you ok?" A voice of a girl questioned emphatically.

Looking towards the source of the voice he saw Yuigahama and to her left Yukinoshita. Yuigahama looked at him with concern as she leaned towards him. At the same time, Yukinoshita looked at him annoyingly as she held her teacup in her hand. Slight tears started to well up at the corners of his eyes as he stared at the both of them.

Shocked, both girls looked at each other before looking back at Hachiman.

' _Why am I getting emotional?_ ' Hachiman thought as he wiped the tears forming at the edges of his eyes away.

With softened eyes, Yukino asked in a sincere voice, "Are you ok?"

"We are here for you, Hiki! Tell us what's wrong!" Yuigahama chimed in with an overly enthusiastic tone.

"I am fine… I am just remember something." Hachiman replied while staring at the two girls longingly, maintaining eye contact a bit too long.

Blushing, Yuigahama looked away.

"Can you not stare at us so intensely…"

"Oh, sorry."

An awkward silence ensued as no one knew what to say.

"Well now that you are awake we can focus on the topic on hand. How to get Isshiki-san not voted in for student council president." Yukino stated plainly in a commanding voice in an attempt to shake off the previous awkwardness.

"Yeah, let's do that! Right, Hiki?" Yuigahama replied in her normal cheerful tone before turning towards Hachiman.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Hachiman felt something pulling him away from the table. A force pulled his body away from the table into a dark tunnel behind him. Reality started to stretch as the world changed around him revealing the internals of a cramped LAV with four other soldiers in it. Ammunition crates could be seen behind him along with rucksacks and other equipment. A tablet in his lap with the reflection of himself staring back at him and his light novel on the ground near his feet. The uniforms of those around him were in JGSDF Desert Flecktarn and he wore the same uniform. He was back in Afghanistan.

"Hey, Sir, there is a radio message you need to hear!" Izanami spoke as she looked grimly at Hachiman.

"What is it…" Hachiman slurred out as he tuned radio to the U.S. Common frequency.

[ _This is Bear Claw calling for any stations this net for urgent help. We have been ambushed and have sustained heavy casualties. We are currently taking small arms fire, RPGs, and possibly 20mm fire, and are requesting immediate relief support! I repeat-_ ]

' _Oh shit…_ ' Hachiman thought as he prepared to radio back.

[ _Bear Claw, this is Swordfish. What is your current status?_ ]

[ _Oh, thank god someone heard our calls! We read you 5 by 5. We are located 36 km to the west of the base in a valley. We were ambushed from a castle structure and bridge. The castle structure is up the valley and is integrated into the wall of the plateau it was created from. We have heavy casualties, upward of 20. Only five guys are healthy and able to fire back. Also be advised we don't have any available JTAC on site, all were wounded._ ]

[ _Roger that, Bear Claw. Swordfish acknowledges and will respond to your call for help. Hold out for as long as possible._ ]

At this message, the atmosphere in the LAV got noticeably more tense as Hachiman basically gave a declaration for the JGSDF Special Forces Group to go on the offensive on their first deployment.

"1LT, are we really going?" A Sergeant in the LAV asked slightly nervously.

"You have got to be kidding me to ask that question." Hachiman returned in a serious tone as he started typing up information on his tablet.

He messaged Captain Hazama, who promptly gave Hachiman the go ahead for the operation and would alert U.S. Base Command and would ensure more reinforcements would get there. The last message Hachiman received from Captain Hazama was to get to the U.S. convoy's position as soon as possible.

[ _All units be advised, we are approaching the U.S. convoy's AO, heads on a swivel. Also this mission's objectives are to rescue the survivors, secure an LZ, and eliminate any hostiles that try to attack us as we secure the survivors. Remember, don't be a hero. We only need one per platoon._ ]

Hachiman joked at the end of his radio message to hopefully lighten the mood, but the situation was dire. Since Hachiman last talked to the convoy they had lost two men and only had three good men left. Time was of the essence and there was very little left for those men.

* * *

[ _Swordfish, this is Alpha Actual, we have eyes on the convoy… it's pretty bad…_ ]

[ _Alpha Actual, this is Swordfish roger that, watch for IEDs or any RPGs as we approach._ ]

A cloud of dark black smoke could be seen for miles around, supposedly from the burning humvees. As they got closer gunfire between the convoy and the castle could still be heard as they saw the huddling U.S. soldiers behind the heavily destroyed humvees and smoldering craters around them firing at the castle, which returned fire with the same intensity. The convoy was composed of seven humvees: four were destroyed and burning heavily, two were disabled and riddled with bullet holes, and one flipped by an IED. On closer inspection, Hachiman could make out the charred bodies of soldiers in the Humvees or stuck partially outside. The sight sickened him and reminded him of the convoy ambush two years ago.

' _Shit, we have to act now!_ ' Hachiman thought as he took his weapon off safety and prepared to open the door of the LAV.

Shouting through his radio, Hachiman ordered, [ _Weapons free, I repeat weapons free! Light up that castle!_ ]

The cacophony of 50 Caliber machine guns rang out as the 6 LAVs started suppressing the hell out of the enemy position. Immediately the castle stopped its deadly barrage towards the U.S. convoy as the Taliban took cover from the new arrival's 50 Caliber fire. The Special Forces Group kept driving up to the U.S. Convoy's position as they continued to suppress the enemy position.

"RPG!" Screamed the Sergeant in the passenger seat shouted as he braced for impact.

The RPG flew by the first three LAVs before striking the fourth LAV on the right side of the hood. Hachiman held his breath as he watched for the fireball that would engulf the LAV in a few seconds. But, to his surprise the LAV didn't explode, the RPG had deflected off the slanted armor of the hood and flew over the roof of the LAV.

[ _This is Bravo 1-1, we have been hit by an RPG!_ ] A hysterical Leading Private shouted through the radio clearly in panic.

[ _Calm down, Bravo 1-1, it was a dud._ ] Someone replied in a rather calm tone.

[ _This is Swordfish, all units, pull up to the right of the convoy and provide protection as we secure the AO._ ]

8th Platoon sped between the convoy and castle as they created a wall. Just before unloading, Hachiman stared at Izanami and conveyed a simple message,

"Stay alive."

She nodded quickly as she opened the door into the battlefield. Following quickly behind her Hachiman dismounted and tried to assess the situation.

It was chaos as gunfire was rapidly exchanged back and forth between the Taliban and the JGSDF. Hachiman ran to the left side of the LAV and took a position on the hood to start firing at the Taliban positions on the hill. Looking through his scope he saw at least a platoon worth of Taliban manning the castle walls firing down into the valley with at least a company in total garrisoned in the castle itself.

' _We are in for a long fire fight. But, with that many Taliban why aren't there more RPGs being fired?_ ' Hachiman thought as he looked around for the nearest U.S. soldier.

A JGSDF rifleman dragged a U.S. soldier from behind a burning humvee towards the LAVs while shouting for a medic. The Japanese medic for Charlie squad quickly responded as she helped drag the wounded American soldier. Without warning, Hachiman ran towards them from the 2nd LAV all the way towards the last LAV in the convoy. As the medic started treatment on the American, Hachiman came up to the wounded soldiers side and asked him a question.

"When was the last time an RPG was fired at the convoy?!" Hachiman yelled above the gunfire.

The soldier strained to respond as his right arm and right leg were basically torn to shreds and he was in a state of shock.

"I need to know now, First Sergeant! It is vital!" Hachiman repeated, taking note of the man's rank insignia on his shoulder patch.

"I have...uh...no idea...maybe 10-15 minutes ago?" The American First Sergeant guessed as the pain fogged his memory.

"You hang in there. Thank you for the information."

Finally getting the information he needed, Hachiman sprinted back to his command LAV. When he got to his command LAV he saw Izanami firing her M4 Carbine at the Taliban with noticeable concentration.

He tapped on and her shoulder and spoke quickly, "I need to run by an assumption I have quickly!"

Thinking he was ordering her to stop firing her weapon, Izanami put her weapon on safety and crouched behind the engine block as Hachiman got closer to her.

"What is it, Hachim-, I mean Sir!" Izanami cut herself mid-sentence realizing the situation they were in.

"Just listen to me real quick. Why do you think the Taliban haven't fired more RPGs at us yet?" Hachiman questioned as he pointed to the small craters surround them.

"I dunno? Maybe they ran out?" Izanami guessed as her eyes darted towards the craters in confusion.

"Impossible, such a garrisoned position must have a huge ammunition reserve. There must be another reason…" Hachiman interjected as he tapped his right hand on the side of the LAV and his other hand rubbing under his chin.

"I am really not sure myself. Aren't we prime targets as we are the reinforcements?"

"I think so… but what if they are not waiting for us?" Hachiman surmised as he had a small epiphany as he started speaking faster.

"What do you mean by us, Sir?"

"What if they are waiting for the Medi-evac, Abrams, or other U.S. vehicles that if damaged, would have a larger impact than just destroying a few humvees and LAVs…"

"That is true, but Taliban aren't really the most disciplined of individuals."

"Exactly, they are a fanatical terrorist group, but any group must have leadership chain. They must have a commander then. A person that will purposely make sure to limit the damage done to us to ensure reinforcements will arrive so that they can inflict massive damage to them when we are forced to finally send in IFVs and the Abrams."

"How did you come to that conclusion? Wouldn't they normally not want to fight any armor?"

"Yeah, but something about this situation we are currently in doesn't feel normal. Thanks for listening though." Hachiman finished as he gave her a slight nudge on the shoulder with his fist.

' _We need to pressure them into using their firepower or destroy it. Cause some confusion among their ranks as whether to use the RPGs and other stocked ammunition they must have._ ' Hachiman thought carefully as he prepared to relay orders through the radio.

Turning on the radio, Hachiman found the radio frequency extremely cluttered, as each LAV had its own issues and were screaming them over the platoon net. It was impossible to get any traffic over the net as everyone spoke every detail of their individual engagement over the frequency.

' _I can't even talk!_ ' Hachiman thought as he crouched behind the LAV while taking fire.

' _Those damn idiots! Can't even remember some basic training about keeping platoon comms clear!_ ' Hachimen silently cursed his men as he prepared to run to each vehicle to tell them to shut up.

Sensing his frustration, Izanami spoke into her mic loudly and clearly, [Clear the god damn frequency! You guys are cluttering it too much for 1LT to use! Use your own squad nets and have your squad lead relay information to this frequency. You guys should know this already!]

"Thanks, Izanami." Hachiman sighed with relief as he smiled at her lightly.

"No problem, I believe in whatever you are planning, Hachiman." Izanami commented as she returned his smile before taking her firing position again.

[ _This is Swordfish, I need Alpha Actual, Bravo Actual, and Charlie Actual at the Command LAV in 5 mics._ ]

[ _This is Alpha Actual speaking on behalf of Bravo Actual and Charlie actual as well, we copy that._ ]

' _Now to get a Sitrep of this mess…_ ' Hachiman remembered as he prepared to sprint to the still wounded Americans near their humvees on his left.

The Japanese LAVs had set up a column to the right of the convoy, although due to the nature of the first four humvees, they had only set up the column to protect the last three humvees. The front most humvee that they had covered, was shot to hell and back. 7.62mm bullet holes riddled the entire vehicle that faced towards the castle, shattered glass laid on the hood of the humvee, and the smell of gas emanated from the humvee. But, that car had the most survivors, with all but the gunner alive. The last and second to last humvees originally had more survivors, but the resulting firefight after the ambush had resulted in the majority of them either killed or wounded. The first four humvees of the convoy took the most damage, they were just former husks of themselves as they still burned heavily.

Finally spotting a break in the gunfire he sprinted to the remaining U.S. survivors behind the humvee who were being treated by the medics from both sides.

"Who is the highest rank here that is combat ready?" Hachiman called out in English as he shouldered his rifle to fit within the minimal cover that the humvee offered.

"I a-a-am... Corporal O'Ryan, Sir." A Corporal stammered as he lowered the phone from his radio to his side.

The scrawny boy had brown hair that was heavily charred from the gunfire and darkened by the smoke of the burning gasoline. He couldn't have been more than 20 years old, a young man with a whole life ahead of him witnessing his friends dying around him. His body armor almost looked too big for his size as one couldn't see his neck when he was sitting down. The brownish tint of his uniform showed the sand and dirt mashed into it from the strenuous fighting. It was obvious that this Corporal was over his head as blood dripped down the left side of his face as he stared at Hachiman with a thousand yard stare.

Sympathizing with him, Hachiman softened his voice as he spoke, "Give me a sitrep."

"Well, we have more than a dozen wounded, all the humvees are unusable, and at least ten KIA. Also, our CO and others in his lead vic were taken by Taliban when they initially ambushed us…"

"What!? Where!?" coughed Hachiman at the unexpected development.

"To the castle up the hill, Sir."

' _Crap, hostages?! That may explain the lack of RPGs because they are waiting for our armour brigades to come in. But, this is really not turning out to be a simple search and rescue mission._ ' Hachiman thought as he looked towards the castle.

A leading private ran up to Hachiman and stoically relayed a message by whisper. After being thanked, the leading private ran off back towards his fireteam with a sense of urgency. Hachiman looked conflicted as he just stared down at the map of the valley that the O'Ryan held.

"What is wrong, Sir?" Corporal O'Ryan asked desperately as he sensed the dreadful atmosphere.

"There doesn't seem to be a way to establish a LZ here. IEDs forbid roadside landings until we clear it, as part of SOP, and this valley is literally a flytrap waiting for a helicopter to try to enter." Hachiman plainly said as he look around at the wounded men.

"So what are we going to do?! We need to evacuate the wounded and save the CO!"

"I am thinking…"

After thinking carefully, Hachiman came to a drastic conclusion, they needed to assault the castle.

* * *

"Are you crazy, 1LT. Hikigaya?!" Sergeant Major Katsumi exploded after hearing Hachiman's crazy plan.

"Are you sure about this, Hachiman?" Izanami also questioned as she gripped her rifle uncomfortably.

The other NCOs listening as well felt the same apprehension as Izanami as they looked amongst each other for opinions.

"Yes, I am sure. The Americans just gave me intel that there is an American CO that was taken hostage during the initial ambush and we need to save him. In addition, we don't have enough medical supplies for both the survivors and ourselves if we were to just hold out. We're also at half our munitions for our LMGs and have two disabled vehicles, which will eventually result in our position being overrun. Breaking contact isn't possible either as we have too many wounded. But if we assault the castle, we can minimize losses and ensure we hold out long enough for reinforcements, which are forty minutes out." Hachiman reasoned with them.

"Surely you're joking! There is no way we can assault such a heavily defended position and take minimal casualties. There is a chance that the Taliban have already killed the hostages!" A Sergeant First Class exasperatedly choked.

"We don't even know how many are in that castle." A Sergeant continued with the Sergeant First Class.

"I estimate about 120 to 150." Hachiman in a matter of fact tone spoke, raising the eyes of the NCOs and giving even more reason to be against the plan.

"But, that is the beauty of it, they won't be expecting it." Hachiman finished as he got annoyed at the time he was burning justifying his plan.

"But-" as someone tried to begin again before being rudely cut off by Hachiman.

"Wait! What is that sound…?" Hachiman broke in.

The sound of a helicopter could be heard in the distance. An unforgettable sound of American air superiority rang through the valley as the Apache sped towards their position.

"That must be the CAS I called in." An air controller Sergeant beamed as he pointed towards the Apache gunship in the distance.

"Are you stupid! Shit! Get that gunship out of here now!" Hachiman snapped as he grabbed the air controller by the collar.

[ _This is Pegasus 3-4, we are your CAS. Placing ordinance where the original coordinates dictated._ ] The American pilot barked over the air controller's radio.

"Why, Sir?" The Sergeant asked as he was confused why he was being yelled at.

Hachiman cursed as he quickly looked at the gunship, "We don't ev-"

The sound of a missile launching reached everyone's ear as they turned towards the castle. A shoulder fired AA missile came streaking out of the castle towards the Apache. Acting quickly, the Apache did an emergency ascent and deployed flares in an attempt to shake off the missile. Thankfully the missile took the bait and tracked onto one of the flares before detonating. Soon after, anti-aircraft tracer fire could be seen coming from the castle.

[ _Holy crap! There are AA missiles out here! We are still being tracked by more missiles and taking heavy small arms fire. The AO is too hot! Swordfish, you are on your own now till you clean the area of the enemy AA weaponry. Pegasus 3-4 out._ ]

A moment of silence permeated the group as they stared in shock at the event that had unfolded right in front of them.

"How was I supposed to know?!" The Air Controller Sergeant stammered as he realized his massive error.

"You wait for my goddamn orders before you order any air support! Are you trying to kill the hostages inside there as well!?" Hachiman seethed as he brought up the man as close to his own face as possible.

' _Once again, when I put my faith in something it fails! Dumbasses! Do they not even consider how the hostages could be killed in an airstrike?!_ ' Hachiman thought as he cursed.

"You will be writing the report when we get back to the FOB on why you called CAS without the approval of your commanding officer and why you put the hostages in harm's way at your stupid own whim! Do I make myself clear?!" Hachiman scolded the Sergeant harshly.

"Sir, isn't this even more reason to not assault the castle?" A Master Sergeant affirmed as he felt punishing the Air Controller was going nowhere.

"Are you stupid?! Everyone, shut up! Next person to try to question me will be demoted!"

An uneasy atmosphere followed as no one expected Hachiman to pull out the demotion card. Even Izanami was slack jawed from the explosion of Hachiman she had just witnessed. From their preconceived notion of Hachiman they had never thought he would stoop to as low as other COs would. A slight bit of hatred and disrespect started to build in a few NCOs as they felt their arguments were valid despite the incident that had just occurred.

"Alright, everyone to positions. We are starting our assault on my mark. Follow the plan." Hachiman coldly ordered as he let go of the Sergeant and equipped his rifle.

* * *

Hachiman aimed his rifle at the head of a Taliban who had an RPG before pulling the trigger and witnessing the brain matter splatter on the wall behind the insurgent. The bolt of the HK417 provided a rather moderate amount of recoil for the large round he was putting down range, as he felt the rifle shift after firing. He quickly switched targets to another Taliban who hadn't learn from his friend about peaking, and ended his life as well.

The Designated Marksmen of the platoon were ordered to snipe any snipers or RPGs that appeared on the castle wall as they made their slow advance up the hill. Popping smoke as they went, 8th Platoon concealed their approach. Thick smoke covered the hill as three LAVs could be seen slowly climbing the side of the valley with a fire team of soldiers behind each LAV. Meanwhile, in the valley below, the rest of 8th Platoon and the U.S. soldiers fired at the castle in hopes of stopping any defenders from trying to fire at the assault team.

Everything was going well until a hidden LMG opened up on the assault team from a concealed port hole. Tearing through the left flank of the assault team, dust and rocks were kicked up into the air as bullets struck the assault team.

"AHHHH! I am hit!" Screamed a Private First Class as he gripped his left thigh, which was a mangled mess of flesh.

"Covering fire!" A support gunner shouted as he sprayed his Minimi at the entrenched LMG's port hole.

A medic dragged the wounded Private First Class through the rocky hillside towards the middle of the assault team formation.

The man babbled as he reached towards the medic, "Are my balls still there?! Just let me die if they aren't there."

The medic rapidly applied a tourniquet and sedated the man to calm him down saying, "Calm down, honey, it is going to be fine. Everything is where it should be. Just relax."

The woman felt slightly guilty as that soldier's leg was basically unsalvageable unless he was medevaced under an hour. But, it was her job as a medic to not only save the boy's life but also maintain the mental health of the assault team. So she soldered on to save the next two wounded.

Readying his M203 grenade launcher, a Sergeant First Class warned, "Frag out!"

The launched grenade silenced the LMG by destroying the gun and tearing apart the enemy combatants inside the bunker. A sigh of relief was raised collectively by the men as they narrowly avoided death. It was short lived as they were interrupted by machine gunfire from the castle walls, forcing the gunners to refocus on suppressing the castle's fanatical defenders.

' _Three men down out of the twenty one men in the assault team was not good, especially before reaching the castle._ ' Hachiman thought as he surveyed the wounded from his being loaded into the right LAV.

"Everyone, we are getting extremely close to the wall, watch out for any IEDs or suicide bombers!" Sergeant Major Katsumi yelled to his men as he pointed his own SCAR-H at the ledge of the castle wall.

"Speak of the devil…" Hachiman cursed under his breath as he stood with the center of the assault team.

An old soviet era grenade rolled off the edge of the castle wall right underneath the center LAV.

"Grenade!" The gunner shouted as he ducked inside the vehicle.

The grenade explosion ripped through the engine compartment, completely blowing the hood off the LAV and immobilized it. Although unscathed, the driver and gunner were not out of harm's way yet as the vehicle quickly burst into flames. A private quickly opened the back door of the burning LAV and let the gunner and driver out before the flames consumed the car.

"Good shit, Private Sutsu!" A Master Sergeant commended him as he fired at ledge where the grenade came from.

"Thank you, Master Sergeant!" Private Sutsu happily replied.

After reaching the castle wall and making sure no explosives were around the perimeter of it, Hachiman prepared for the main assault on the castle. The walls up close were much taller than they appeared in the distance, they must have been a good ten to fifteen meters tall. But, clearly the wall wasn't made to stand up to modern day weapons as huge chunks of the wall were missing or had holes in it thanks to the continuous fire of the 50 Cals.

"Everyone stack up on the wall!" Hachiman ordered as he prepared to peak into the open arch of the castle door located on the right side of the castle.

' _This doesn't feel right. Why would they leave the castle doors open for attackers to get in?_ ' Hachiman reasoned as he carefully peeked around the corner.

As he turned his head to look in he was met was a hail fire of machine gun fire.

"Holy crap!" Hachiman exclaimed as he pulled his head away from the archway.

Catching his breath, Hachiman knew that it was meant to be a kill funnel, to draw the enemy into a trap. He pulled out a fibre optic camera and used it to peer into the entrance way. The camera revealed a heavily fortified MG position to the left of the doorway with an open courtyard to the right. Behind the courtyard were pueblo like structures that resembled small apartments with Taliban and ammunition, especially RPGs, everywhere. Each apartment had a balcony that was fortified by sandbags. Enemy technicals, Vehicles latten with machine guns and explosives, laid in the courtyard.

'T _hat must be the ammunition depot of the castle and maybe the living quarters as well._ ' Hachiman thought as he measured out the dimensions of the court yard out in his head.

[ _Hey, get me the demolition expert Master Sergeant._ ] Hachiman radioed over the platoon net.

A buff Japanese NCO ran up behind him and tapped his shoulder to let him know he was there.

"Master Sergeant, do you think we could blow a hole through these walls?" Hachiman asked earnestly.

Liking the direction of the conversation the Master Sergeant boasted, "I have enough explosives on me to level this entire castle."

"Good, I need you to blow a hole 15 meters down this wall and get your fireteam prepared to breach it. Just alert everyone before you blow it."

A smile crept up on Hachiman's face as he prepared for the fireworks.

"Yes, sir!" The Master Sergeant happily complied as he ran back to his fire team and barked orders for the explosives to be planted.

Turning towards his own fireteam, Hachiman explained, "Ok guys, we are going to do a flash and enter on this archway while Master Sergeant Yuta's team blows through the wall into the MG position."

Instead of questioning him like he expected the Sergeant only asked, "How many flashes do you need?"

"Three."

After placing the explosives on the castle wall, the Master Sergeant called over the radio,

[ _We are ready to go, Sir!_ ]

[ _Roger that, blow it on your mark and we will breach at the same time._ ]

[ _3!_ ]

[ _2!_ ]

[ _1!_ ]

[ _Fire in the hole!_ ]

A loud explosion echoed through the valley as the military grade high explosives easily tore a hole in the sandstone wall allowing for the Special Forces Group to breach into the castle. Gunfire erupted again as Taliban and Japanese fought each other in close quarters combat in the bunker they had just breached. In a coordinated attack, at the same time, Hachiman and two others threw flashbangs through the front gate and quickly breached into the courtyard. Thrown into an unexpected disarray, the defenders put up little resistance as the assault team breached the castle. Hachiman ran through the front gate firing his HK417 at any defenders, killing four of them in quick succession.

A weird sense of euphoria ran through Hachiman's blood as he continued his charge forward. All of a sudden the sound of the gun clicking could be heard as Hachiman's HK417 was out of ammo. The Taliban in front of him heard and tried to raise his AK-47 to shoot, but Hachiman quick drawed his MP7 and sprayed down the Taliban, riddling him with bullets.

' _That was close! I should have counted my shots more carefully._ ' Hachiman mentally cursed himself as he reloaded his HK417 behind cover.

Others followed quickly behind as they killed the disorientated defenders and laid down suppressing fire on the apartments. All the automatic gunners took their Minimis and sprayed back and forth across all the apartment buildings, ensuring to still use burst fire as they were trained to do. Grenadiers blew up any other fortified MG position with M203 grenades. Any resistance was met with a hailstorm of fire, resulting in the quick domination of the courtyard.

The assault team took control of the court yard with minimal casualties: five wounded, two killed. The Taliban on the other hand lost over 50 men from the assault and had 7 surrender, a testament to the jihadi creed of the Taliban.

"Everyone maintain 360 degree security!" Hachiman ordered as he radioed to the team with the Americans that the castle walls were secured and that friendlies were inside.

"Ok what is next, Sir!" A Sergeant asked loudly so that everyone could hear and slightly to peeve Hachiman.

The general mood of the assault team was relief after over overcoming a larger enemy force and taking minimal casualties, although there was still some somber individuals after witnessing their friends die. But, they knew it was not the time to cry as they had to remained strong to finish the fight. Some of the NCOs on the other hand were still slightly annoyed that Hachiman pulled out the demotion card earlier. Some were ready to speak out against him for such a reckless assault. But, they knew that Hachiman's tactic was extremely effective nonetheless.

Hachiman stood on the edge of the security circle with his back towards the insurgent technicals as men stood guard on the castle walls and watched the windows and doors of the apartments.

"Onto the next obje-" Hachiman quickly cut himself mid sentence as he turned around and aimed his rifle at the vehicles behind him.

' _I know someone is over there…_ ' Hachiman thought as his instincts were screaming at him.

The other NCOs were about to take their weapons off safety as well when a Taliban with an AK-47 popped out behind the vehicle shouting,

"Allahu Akbar!"

Hachiman immediately fired and killed the Taliban before he could get his shot on Hachiman. Immediately after another Taliban popped up and tried to fire, ending with Hachiman placing a bullet right between his eyes.

"Why are you all standing there? Secure those cars and dead Taliban." Hachiman said casually as a few enlisted rushed to the clear the cars of any other terrorists.

The assault team could only stare in awe as they saw Hachiman casually advert an assassination attempt.

' _One thing we can't argue with is his combat prowess though._ ' All the NCOs thought as they pushed back the the thought of disrespecting Hachiman and kept a mental note of the feat to add onto the legend known was the 'Dead Lieutenant'.

"Ok, the next stage of the plan is to clear this complex of all the Taliban, and if the intel that the U.S. gave us was correct is to search and rescue the CO. This means that we will be using non-lethal entrance techniques. Fragmentation, incendiary, and HE grenades should not be used, and PID of all targets." Hachiman continued his briefing as if nothing happened.

The NCOs split up their men into small four men fireteams, ensuring that at least one medic was in each fireteam as room clearing was an extremely dangerous procedure that no soldier wanted to do. Inches away from an insurgent that is prepared for you with his rifle aiming at where your head will be, while you helplessly run into the room right into his sights. All the men swallowed their fear as they stacked up on the door to the bottom floor, while another team lead by Hachiman would clear the building from the top down.

* * *

[ _Prepare to breach in 3, 2, 1. Go! Go! Go!_ ] Hachiman orchestrated over the radio as he kicked in the door to the roof of the apartment complex, which was accessible from the castle walls.

Immediately after a Private tossed a flashbang deep into the stairwell in hopes of disorientating any awaiting Taliban. Bang! The sound of the flashbang rang out as Hachiman stormed into the stairway. His men soon followed suit making sure to cover each other as they walked down the precarious stairwell from the top floor. Each men held their breath as they scanned every shadow, crack, and wall for any signs of a trap or a terrorist. MP7 drawn, Hachiman reached the connector portion of the stairwell with a long hallway of the apartment complex.

"Ok, you three stack up on the door and breach as the support gunner and the Lieutenant take rear security." A Staff Sergeant ordered the rest of his fireteam as he pulled out a flashbang to toss into the room.

Each man tensed as they prepared to enter a room, they had breached many times in training, but this time they could actually be killed as it was more likely for terrorists to be hiding in a room then a stairwell. A slight cold sweat rain through their palms as they tensed as the command to breach was given, which made the breacher kick in the door as a flashbang was tossed in by the Staff Sergeant.

"Go! Go! Go!" Shouted the Staff Sergeant as the men charged into the room.

Each man alternated directions as they entered the room, with the first one going left, the second one going right, the third one going left, and etc. They scanned the room with their rifles, making sure to poke at anything suspicious with the barrel of their rifle.

' _Sometimes I think this cannot be good for my a heart._ ' A Private First Class sighed slightly as he relaxed exiting the room.

[ _This is the bottom entrance team, we have entered the 1st floor to little resistance, clearing the rooms have revealed a lot of RPGs though._ ]

[ _This is the top entrance team, we acknowledge and have also met no resistance. Top entrance team out._ ]

The same process of room clearing went on as the men of the Special Forces Group cleared each room systematically, making sure to not slack as they knew that complacency led to error.

' _These guys are not half bad at clearing, they are relaxing as they get more accustomed to room clearing, but are not relaxing their strict training and regulations to clearing a room. A check plus to them._ ' Hachiman thought slightly proudly as he didn't have to remind his men to not get complacent with finding no enemies.

' _But, this means that the remaining enemies are probably concentrated, something that could be a big issue…_ ' Hachiman thought concernedly as he counted the amount of flashbangs he had left.

"How many flashbangs do we have left?" The Leading Private Yoko questioned as she checked her pouches for more flashbangs.

"I am pretty sure we have nine flashbangs left… I think?" A Private returned as he looked towards the shaking heads of Hachiman and the Staff Sergeant, who pointed towards their empty flashbang pouches.

"I am not sure that is enough." Yoko insisted with a worried tone as she took out another flashbang.

"We can run back to the LAVs if needed. Plus even without flashbangs, we can still clear rooms." Hachiman comforted her as he walked past her to take position on the far side of the door.

Snickering a bit a Private First Class joked, "Just throw Yoko, the guerilla, in there instead, she could take them all out."

Ignoring the guy's comment, Yoko counted down, "3! 2! 1! Breach!"

She opened the door and tossed the flashbang into the room in one fluid motion. After the confirming sound of the flashbang going off, Yoko entered the room first as the breacher. With her rifle up, she entered the room and started to clear it.

"One, left! Two, right! Three, Left! Four, right!" Hachiman called out as team lead for the breach.

As the team scanned the room with their rifle mounted flashlights there were met with the same quietness and emptiness as the first several breaches. Slowly they walked around the room, making sure to overturn any bed, dresser, and blanket. Not a single part of the room could be left unchecked as the Taliban could have hidden caches or passageways in the room.

Yoko coughed lightly as the dust from the room filled her nose. She approached a dresser when a hand grabbed the barrel. She let out a small yelp as she felt her body being pulled towards the hand. The rest of the team snapped at the sound as they pointed their rifles Yoko's way. A Taliban had popped out in front of her from under the dresser and had grabbed the barrel of her rifle in an attempt to snatch it from her. Looking through their sights, fireteam Bravo 1-2 couldn't get a shot on the Taliban as Yoko struggled with the Taliban in close proximity.

' _Damn it!_ ' Hachiman thought as he pulled out his knife from his chest sheath.

But, before Hachiman could get to her, Yoko took her boot and slammed it into the face of the Taliban, who recoiled back holding his face in pain. Regaining control of her rifle, Yoko took aim and fired a three round burst into the kneeling Taliban at close range, causing blood to splatter on the floor. An inaudible sigh released from everyone's mouth as the Staff Sergeant ran to her side to check up on her.

"Are you ok?" the Staff Sergeant asked in a concerned tone as he inspected her quickly.

"I am fine, Staff Sergeant Kunada." Yoko replied clearly shaken though.

"Alright then, you take rear security for the time being."

"Yes, Staff Sergeant!"

'That could have gone so much worse…' Hachiman thought as he sheathed his knife and ensured his sidearm and rifle were secured to his body.

"Alright, let's keep going. We still have another floor to clear before we meet the bottom entrance team." Hachiman reminded as he led the way out the room.

"Yes, Sir!" The fireteam replied in unison as they followed behind Hachiman.

* * *

Despite the cool, dry draft inside the building, Hachiman still sweated heavily and felt like he was in the jungles of Thailand. The nervousness and paranoia as his eyes darted around the hallway. A single out of place sound could have triggered him to shoot. Nothing can compare to the fear of dying, no matter what you felt in a combat environment or at home, the fear of dying was the most powerful vivid feeling. Even a combat veteran like him was just as likely dying as any other man. It was the only thing one could feel once it began, as the feeling of impending death is an extremely enveloping feeling. But, Hachiman had gotten used to that feeling though; even to the point where he felt liberated as it made him forget about the rest of world. Yes one could describe him as an addict to the possibility of dying.

Bang! Bang! Ratta tata!

His head instinctively turned to the sound of it as if it yearned it. It came from down the hallway, and down the stair well.

' _That cannot be good. Who are they firing at?_ ' Hachiman thought as he continued down the hallway.

[ _Taking heavy fire! Strong resistance on third floor! I repeat-_ ] The radio relayed before shutting off.

"Let's move it, quickly!" Hachiman commanded as he double timed it to the stairwell.

His team sprinted as they kept pace behind him. Slowing down, Hachiman stopped short of the stairwell as he grimaced at this impasse. Stairwells, literally the easiest defender advantage, are always boobytrapped and watched by an machine gun. But, they needed to descend down either way.

"I need a banger!" He shouted above the gunfire coming from the bottom of the stairwell.

"Banger!" A Private shouted as he handed him his flashbang.

"Thanks! Everyone get ready to breach. When it goes off we go. Don't stop or you will get everyone else caught." Hachiman ordered as he pulled the pin on the flashbang and readied to toss it around the bend of the stair well.

"Yes, Sir!" A universal reply could be heard.

Taking slow deep breaths, he prepared to descend into hell.

' _Screw it, let's do this._ ' Hachiman thought as he mentally fortified himself.

"Flash out!" he shouted as he tossed the flashbang down the stairwell.

The flashbang bounced off the mud walls and bounced down the flight of stairs towards the waiting Taliban, who had a PKM. After the resonating bang signifying its job completed, Hachiman descended down the stairs.

The second he entered the third floor, the first thing that hit him was the strong smell of iron and gunpowder, the smell of death. It was a thick stench that filled his nostrils to the point where he could almost taste the blood in his mouth. Others in his team began to gag slightly as they struggled to remain composed enough to aim down their sights. he couldn't see anything. The dust from the building had kicked up all over the place due to the intense gun fire from both sides. He could barely see five meters in front of him, but they still needed to move.

"Sir, I am on your right." The previously jesting Private First Class spoke to him.

"Ok, let's go side by side." Hachiman returned still aiming down the dust filled hallway.

'Weird, still nothing can be seen. This doesn't feel right…' Hachiman thought as he scanned the dust filled hallway.

Machine gun fire unexpectedly came from the cloud of dust in front of them, striking the private that was walking right next to him. The Private First Class fell backwards as he grunted in pain.

"I am hit!" he shouted as he tried to crawl backwards.

"Covering fire!" The support gunner alerted them before letting his Minimi let it's lethal load down the hallway.

' _Oh crap, the bottom entrance team is still on the opposite end of this hallway!_ ' Hachiman realized.

"Cut it!" He ordered as he made a horizontal slitting motion across his own throat.

The support gunner immediately held his fire and crouched down, but still maintained his sights down the hallway, which was even more dust filled thanks to his blaze of glory.

' _Sometimes I wish they had the common sense to realize that there might be friendlies down the hallway._ ' Hachiman thought annoyingly.

"Oh you sissy! You aren't even hurt!" Leading Private Yoko berated as she kicked the Private First Class in the back.

The bullet had struck him in his plate carrier, which only resulted in him being pushed onto his ass. In his panic, thinking that he had been mortally wounded, the Private First Class had crawled his way to his medic behind everyone.

"Hey, I didn't know! All I felt was something hit me like a freight train and I ended up falling backwards!" The Private First Class returned loudly in protest to his harsh treatment.

"You two shut up!" The Staff Sergeant barked as he picked up the wounded pride soldier back up to his feet.

"Yes, Sir!" both Yoko and the Private First Class replied sternly as they got back into position.

[ _Bottom Entrance Team, this is Top Entrance Team, how are you guys doing?_ ] Hachiman radioed.

[ _Top Entrance Team, this is Bottom Entrance Team. We are fine, a few minor injuries, although the friendly fire was not appreciated._ ] The radio returned.

[ _Sorry about that. Are you still good to move up? We are going to start clearing the rest of the floor. Over._ ]

[ _We will start clearing this side of the 3rd floor. Meet you in the middle. Out._ ]

"Ok guys, lets go. Staff Sergeant Kunada, get your men to start clearing out the rooms we passed by on our way here. I am going to stay here with the support gunner." Hachiman declared as he glared slightly at the support gunner.

The Staff Sergeant rapidly detached his team from Hachiman as he prepared to hear the smack down that Hachiman was about to lay down on the Support Gunner. The Support Gunner was a pretty well build man, in his late twenties, and must have been in the Rangers for at least five years, but he was still shaking slightly as Hachiman approached him.

"Sir! I was only following pro-" The Support Gunner began before being abruptly cut off by Hachiman.

"Shhh. I don't want to hear it. I know it was protocol," Hachiman reprimanded him, "but let's not forget protocol doesn't account for every situation. So use your damn head!"

Looking at the Support Gunner in the eyes, Hachiman continued in a calm tone, "Did you not stop to think who was at the end of the hallway? Did you not forget why we even rushed down to this floor?"

"To respond to the distress call of the bottom entrance team, Sir!" The Support Gunner answered stiffly.

"That is correct. Therefore we shouldn't fire down the hallway that friendlies maybe at the end of. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good, now keep watch as I get a sitrep."

The Support Gunner readily complied as he got in the prone position and watched down the corridor.

' _Fifteen more minutes till backup arrives, better clean this up before it gets out of hand._ ' Hachiman thought as he tallied his ammunition and counted his men. Taking a seat right next to the Support Gunner, Hachiman relaxed slightly as he caught his breath over the potentially fatal friendly fire accident that almost occurred.

"Sir! Staff Sergeant Kunada reporting!" The Staff Sergeant stood attention in front of the resting Hachiman.

Standing up to meet Kunada, Hachiman spoke, "Give me the report, Staff Sergeant."

"Sir, it seems that all the rooms we are searched so far on this floor are clear, but we are finding a lot of munitions on this floor. I mean literally rooms filled with 7.62 ball ammunition and explosives."

"I will take note of that. Let's link up with the bottom team now."

"Roger. I will get everyone set."

* * *

"Nice to see you again, Katsumi." Hachiman happily greeted the Sergeant Major as he shook as his hand.

"You as well, 1LT. Hikigaya." Sergeant Major Katsumi returned albeit with a bit of weariness.

"Let's get this over with then."

"Everyone stack up on the door! Leading Private Hisashi and Private Kichirou, you two are the breachers."

The now squad level group grouped on each side of the last door in the middle of the floor. The top entrance team on the right, the bottom entrance team on the left. The American officer had to be in this room, so everyone was on their top game as they prepared to be heroes.

' _That is the guy that was hit right next to me…_ ' Hachiman thought as he looked at the Leading Private who was prepared to breach the door.

"Flashbang ready. On you…" Lead Private Hisashi reported to Private Kichirou.

"Opening in 3, 2, 1!" Private Kichirou spoke out loud so everyone could hear, as he suddenly yanked the wooden door open.

"Flash out!" Hisashi alerted everyone as he chucked the flashbang deep into the room.

Bang!

With the loud report and accompanying blinding light, the flashbang had done its job. The breaching team began to enter the room in a stream, when a click could just be heard. In slow motion, Hachiman looked down to see the Leading Private's feet snag on a wire.

' _Oh shit!_ ' Hachiman thought as he raced to pull back Leading Private Hisashi before it was too late.

"Landmi-" Hachiman tried to yell before being interrupted by the explosion.

The explosion ripped the room and door frame apart as it tossed dust, rocks, and bodies alike into the hallway. Leading Private Hisashi was ripped from Hachiman's grip as the body was tossed towards the opposite side of the doorway. Private Kichirou was right behind Hisashi as he was hit with the accompanying fragmentation and body of Leading Private Hisashi. Simply put, it was a horrendous sight to witness.

The body of Leading Private Hisashi was virtually unrecognizable, killed in an instant, as his body was torn apart by the fragmentation, resulting in his lower body being separated from his upper body. Flesh, ligaments, and limbs were blown around the doorway. Private Kichirou was luckier and had the blast force mitigated by the Leading Private's body, but was still thoroughly messed up. He was missing his right foot and was not moving after hitting the wall behind the both of them.

"Holy shit!" A Sergeant yelled as he fell backwards from the explosion and viewed the carnage.

"That didn't just happen…" Leading Private Yoko denied gripped her rifle tightly at the body of her fellow squadmate blown apart in front of her.

No one moved after witnessing the breaching team blown apart. A weird stillness in the fight as Japanese Special Forces watched motionlessly at their dead bodies.

"Go! Go! Go!" Hachiman exclaimed as he tried to snap everyone out of their stupor.

' _We lost the element of surprise. We need to overwhelm them now before they hurt the hostages._ ' Hachiman thought as he proceeded to step over the rubble into the room.

"Wait, Sir! It's too dangerous! We need to secure-" Staff Sergeant Kunada began as he tried to stop Hachiman from going in.

"We cannot lose our momentum! We go in now! Let's go!" Hachiman disagreed as he tried to goad his men into entering the room with him.

But, they remained motionless, in shock at what had occurred in front of them.

' _Screw them!_ ' Hachiman thought as he cleared the room by himself.

The second he passed through the smoke and rubble he was met with the muzzle of an AK-47 a meter away from his face. He quickly let a three round burst from his HK-417 hit the wielder, who was not prepared for the fearless push by the JGSDF officer. Snapping to his next target, Hachiman fired another three round burst at another Taliban who was in the back of the room still dazed from the flashbang.

' _Just like I thought, they wouldn't expect me!_ ' Hachiman thought as he looked into the far corner of the room.

Hachiman spotted the American CO and his men, all tied up with their equipment missing. All they had on were their undershirts and ACU pants on. The Americans looked badly bruised and injured as shown by the bloody bandages and welts. They looked surprised at not seeing one of their own uniforms they recognized but an asian looking man with a Japanese insignia on his shoulder. Hachiman ignored the stares, looking over the American CO and NCOs for any explosives or booby traps, when he spotted the Major insignia on the soldier in the middle of the US soldiers.

' _An American Major, the Taliban seemed to have captured quite the high ranking official._ ' Hachiman thought as he approached the American Major.

In his best English, Hachiman declared, "I am 1LT. Hikigaya of the Japanese Special Forces Group. We are here to rescue you."

The American CO looked confused as he looked behind Hachiman. Sensing his confusion, Hachiman addressed his concern,

"My men are currently running security outside of this room, I lost the two men I was breaching with, so I entered by myself."

"I am sorry to hear that, 1LT. Hikigaya." The Major spoke as he looked down grimly.

"I should have introduced myself earlier. I am Major Cantor of the US army." Major Cantor introduced himself to Hachiman.

Before Hachiman could continue his conversation with the Major, Hachiman's radio came to life.

[ _1LT. Hikigaya, we are sending medics from the breaching team in with NCOs and other personnel from the castle defense team._ ] The radio spoke in Japanese.

[ _Roger that, send them in. The Americans are injured and need medical attention and transport._ ] Hachiman replied to the radio in Japanese.

"What is going on, 1LT.?" The American Major asked with concern.

"Nothing to worry about, Sir. We are just sending in a medical team to tend to your wounds now." Hachiman returned in English as he tried cut the rope that bound the Major's hands and feet.

* * *

After a few minutes, behind Hachiman, Izanami and the medics walked in with stretchers and the rest of the breach team. The breaching team look exhausted and stoic as they walked in. Izanami could sense this, but did nothing knowing the pain of losing a friend in front of them could only be healed with time.

"1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, Sir. I have brought the medical team." Izanami stated as she stood at attention in front of Hachiman.

"Good job, Private First Class Kanata. You may return to your post." Hachiman finished the exchange.

As Izanami turned to leave, a rattle of the closet door near the window caught Hachiman's attention.

"What was that?" Hachiman commented out loud catching everyone's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Izanami asked curiously, who had not heard the sound.

Quietly, Hachiman approached the door near the window with his MP7 drawn. Following his example, the others pointed their rifles at the door as they formed a semicircle around the door in the corner. The door shook this time, causing everyone to tense and wait for Hachiman to open the door.

"Be careful, Hachiman!" Izanami whispered loudly to him as she stood twenty feet directly in front of the door as Hachiman prepared to open it.

' _I should have cleared this room earlier…_ ' Hachiman thought dreadfully as he reached for the doorknob.

As Hachiman began to touch the doorknob, the door burst open revealing a tall middle eastern man. He rip opened up his white vest to reveal grenades stuck to his chest in a row all rigged to blow once he pulled the wire.

"Allahu Akbar!" He roared as he charged straight past Hachiman at Izanami, ripping out the pins of his deadly payload.

The cacophony of rifles of rang out as everyone shot at the suicide bomber. The bomber staggered from taking multiple shots but didn't waver as he tried to reach Izanami.

' _If we don't remove him we are as good as dead!_ ' Hachiman thought as he tried to figure out a plan to save his men and Izanami.

Everything slowed down again as the man inched closer to Izanami, and delivering his payload. Multiple thoughts raced through his head as he tried to figure out a plan to save everyone. But, all the endings he could see always resulted in their death. All of them except one. The one plan that only he could do and only he knew how to do.

' _Maybe I never changed after all..._ ' Hachiman thought as he let a small smile grace his face.

Without wasting anymore time, he dropped his MP7, and charged at the suicide bomber to everyone's surprise.

Sensing what he was going to do, Izanami screamed, "No!"

Hachiman body tackled the bomber into the window and threw the both of them out the window.

' _Maybe this is payback for letting my men die in a reckless assault…_ ' Hachiman thought as he fell out the window hugging the bomber, who was bleeding out.

Shards of glass rained down with him as he dived with the terrorist with everyone watching helplessly.

' _Maybe this will undo all the wrong I did in my life… the people I pushed away… the lies I gave to hurt myself for others…for Yukino and Yuigahama…_ ' Hachiman thought as he had fallen two stories already.

' _Maybe this is for never changing…_ '

The explosion was visible from the third floor of the building. It ripped apart an enemy technical from the force of it as a huge fire ball engulfed the sky. Izanami ran to the window hysterically screaming no, only to be stopped by Sergeant Major Katsumi who didn't want her to see the carnage.

"We need to go down to check for 1LT Hikigaya right now!" Sergeant Major Katsumi ordered, struggling to hold back Izanami from running down the stairs to check on Hachiman's body.

"Staff Sergeant, get comms with Captain Hazama and tell him hostages are secured and stay with the Americans as security. Sergeant clear that room now! Medical team, I need two medics to come with me." Katsumi continued as he regained control of the situation.

He looked towards Izanami, who was now on her knees looking out the window.

' _I don't think even the legendary Dead Lieutenant survived that one._ ' Sergeant Major Katsumi thought ironically about Hachiman's moniker.

* * *

The medics rushed outside to a living hell, an enemy technical had been blown apart as well, emphasising the devastating power of the suicide bomber brought with him. The smell of gasoline and ash filled the air as the vehicle continued to burn. Between where the 1LT should have fallen with the suicide bomber were the enemy technicals, which were what the medics and Sergeant Major Katsumi seeing. Rushing from their LAVs to the fire, the castle defense team was moving quickly to stop the fire from spreading to other munitions in the castle with fire extinguishers.

[ _Castle Defense Team to Sergeant Major Katsumi, an enemy technical blew up and we cannot get the inferno under control. What should we do?_ ] The radio reported.

[ _Look around for a water supply in the castle and use it or get in contact with the road team and get them to bring up fire extinguishers._ ] Sergeant Major Katsumi returned over the radio as he tried to rush pass the burning vehicle to Hachiman's position.

As Sergeant Major Katsumi finally arrived at the supposed final destination of Hachiman, he was shocked with the sight in front of him. There on his knees covered in soot, staring up into the sky was Hachiman with the suicide bomber underneath him. Hachiman looked like he had been through hell and back, dust and blood blanketed his body along with heavy breathing as entire body seemed to shake with every breath he took.

Blinking out of his stupor, Katsumi snapped, "1st Lieutenant Hikigaya, are you ok, sir?!"

Looking down from the sky, Hachiman stared right into the Sergeant Major's eyes, "I am fine, aside from a nonfunctional arm, but you might want to look at the guy underneath me."

After finishing that line, Hachiman began to laugh, falling onto his butt as he laughed so hard. The medics also laughed slightly as well as they began their assessment and treatment of Hachiman. Soon, Katsumi also started laughing as he walked towards his officer.

"You are one tough bastard. You know that, sir?" Katsumi grinned.

"Hey that's why they call me the Dead Lieutenant right? I am already dead so I can't die anymore." Hachiman snorted as he calmed down from laughing.

"I am afraid that doesn't explain how you survived. I was sure you were dead."

"When we were falling mid air, the grenades seemed to have dislodged from his vest and landed in the back of the enemy technical. On impact it seemed the Taliban was crushed underneath me."

"You never cease to amaze me, Sir. This will be added as another feat under your legend."

"Well at least this reinforces that I am unkillable, if you include the attempted assault on me earlier."

"I beg to differ, Sir." Katsumi objected as he wiped away the tears from laughing.

"What do you mean?" Hachiman asked in confusion.

Katsumi gestured towards the entrance of the apartment complex. There stood Izanami, teary eyed, in disbelief as she saw Hachiman. She dropped her precious rifle and helmet to the side, disregarding Major Cantor behind her and the rest of the entourage as she fast walked towards Hachiman.

' _Uh oh. This can't be good._ ' Hachiman thought as he mentally prepared himself for the ass whooping he was about recieve in the form of slaps and hits.

He closed his eyes and embraced his fate, but instead felt something soft and warm on his legs and chest. Opening his eyes, he saw Izanami in his lap hugging him, crying silently as she tried to wrap her arms around Hachiman. Getting over his initial shock, Hachiman smiled and smoothly stroked her head with his good arm.

They stayed like that for a good five minutes before anyone dared to interrupt them. Sergeant Major Katsumi made sure to move everyone along and secure rest of the castle as he gave the Lieutenant time to rest. The Japanese Special Forces Group finally declared the mission a success an hour after it had all started.

[ _Swordfish, this is Dog House, we have arrived on site. We have brought armor and medical. Acknowledge?_ ] Hachiman's radio reported to him

Picking up his radio with his good arm, Hachiman replied, [ _This is Swordfish. Roger that, come into the castle to meet me. Ask my men to guide you._ ]

[ _This is Dog House, we acknowledge. Casevac is here, we have two blackhawks ready to take all the critically wounded._ ]

[ _Roger that, keep me informed, Dog House. This is Swordfish out._ ]

"Hey we have to go now…" Hachiman spoke in a gingerly tone as he tried to get his feet.

"Idiot… Promise me that you won't do that again…" Izanami mumbled through Hachiman's body armor as she still sat in lap.

"I promise, let's go."

"Ok!" izanami cheered as he jumped to her feet, confusing Hachiman.

"You sure have a lot of energy all of a sudden. Ow!"

Izanami kicked Hachiman in the shin as he stood up, resulting in him fall back on his butt again.

"That was payback for making us all worry so much."

"Roger that…"

"Well you should go meet the Americans and their friends. You have a big report to write up about our first combat for Captain Hazama."

Sighing, Hachiman walked out of the castle while leaning on Izanami to meet the Americans who had come to secure the area.

* * *

Sorry that took so long between updates. Just life getting in the way of my writing. I hope you all enjoyed this edition of the Dead Lieutenant, extra long to make up for my inability to post for a long time. Hopefully the romance was not too awkward, I tried to make it as smooth as possible. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed my first chapter, rest assured I read them all and responded to many of you!


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